In this sermon, the speaker addresses the issue of lacking an aggressive spirit in pursuing the Lord. He emphasizes the need to work diligently and ensure that our faith is genuine. The purpose of the weekend conference is to help each other discover the eternal things and have a clear direction in our Christian lives. The speaker also highlights the importance of coming together during the winter months to avoid spiritual decline and stumbling. The ultimate goal is to have a time of reflection and fellowship, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach and free us from unnecessary distractions.

Shall we bow our heads just for a further word of prayer, okay, as we look to the Lord together for this evening? Father, we do want to commit this time to you, not just our time. Above all, we desire to commit our hearts to you, that you may speak to us, and indeed we may hear your voice. Remove from us all that is not of you. Lord, we do pray that you clear the air, give us an open heaven tonight. Lord, make this weekend a truly spiritual inward meeting of our hearts with your heart. Thank you that you sovereignly brought us to this place. We believe you have a purpose you desire to accomplish. Incorporate, we say to you, Lord, accomplishment for your glory, and unto your praise, and for the building up of your church, your testimony on this earth. Thank you, Lord, we praise you. You reign and rule over this meeting tonight. We acknowledge you as our Lord, as our King, and together we submit to you. Thank you, Lord, in your precious name. Amen. It's so good to be here with you, young brothers and sisters. When I received news from Richmond that the registration for this weekend is on the constant increase, I just couldn't believe it. First I heard about 80, and I think altogether we have about 100 or so brothers and sisters from out of the Richmond area. So when I look at that list, and we have 10 groups, about 15 to 16 in each group, the thought came to me is this is Kimbrook part two. Almost like Kimbrook, but in a different location. We're very thankful. Now the purpose for this weekend, just to share a little bit, we were down here in November for the Richmond Conference Planning Session. On that Lord's Day, a few brothers, we ate lunch together and were sharing how are we going to use this time, this weekend for the Lord. As we were sharing our hearts together, and I think it was Brother John Blanchard, he said we need to have a time like the psalmist when you read a psalm and you read through certain verses, and then there's a small word, Selah. Just stop for a moment, pause, and reflect. Brothers and sisters, this life that we have in this country, the lifestyle we have in this world, gives us no time to have Selah anymore. We are so occupied with things that are so unnecessary, passing away, perishing, fleeting, nothing is eternal. Brothers and sisters, we need to redeem the time. Take time now and reflect before the Lord. We will learn greatly from the Lord and from each other if we will just quiet our hearts, our spirits, and reflect in fellowship. So this evening and tomorrow and part of the Lord's Day is just a time that we enjoy that Selah together. Just quiet our hearts, be reflective before the Lord, allow the Holy Spirit to freely move into our hearts, teaching us, adjusting us, show us more of himself. And above all, set us free from the things we argue about, we think so necessary. In fact, there's only one thing that's necessary. As the Lord told Mary, to sit at my feet and listen to my word. That's one thing we are very much lacking. So this weekend is just a time to sit quietly before the Lord and have a time of reflection. Now this word Selah means you just pause and meditate. Now this art of meditation is a lost art. Somehow we think life should just be occupied with momentum. People cannot sit down and reflect anymore. Somehow you think life should just keep going. It's just a machinery. But that's not Christian life. Christian life begins with rest. Christian life basically is a life of rest, of peace. When we are at peace with God, you are at rest. And so, brothers and sisters, so this word Selah means we pause, reflect, consider, reconsider. Even the things we heard before, but as we consider, reconsider, those things will sink deeper into our hearts and become real to us. The reason why spiritual mentors, the reason why many of the brothers and sisters are living a very spiritual, superficial life is because we lack Selah. We do not meditate. We do not allow what we hear or what we heard to sink deeper into us and become life to us, become experience to us. So I hope and pray that this way the Lord will touch our hearts, show us something of himself, and we are here to meditate and to reflect together. So as I was waiting before the Lord, the epistle of Peter came to mind. Because the epistle of Peter he wrote to the saints that gathered throughout the ancient Roman world. And Peter called them, they were foreigners and aliens. They are living in the world and they are not of the world. They are very conscious of that. And so Peter wrote the two epistles to encourage them. How to live a separated life. How to live a separated life. Christian life basically is a separated life. Now this life is foreign to us. This life that we have as believers, when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, this divine life we possess, is all foreign to us, all new to us. It was something that was never here on this earth until the Lord Jesus came and he showed us what life is all about. We never had it here before until he came. And he showed that life and he showed us how to live that life. So let's look at Peter 2, just one word that stood out before me the last few weeks as I was meditating before the Lord. This was mentioned three times in Peter's second epistle. It's a very simple word. It is a very important word. And I hope you young people will go back and read this epistle and see how this word is used in the context that Paul tried to share with believers in those days. The first mention of this word we find in chapter 1 verse 5 of 2 Peter. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and so forth. Now the word I want you to draw is giving all diligence. Now the second mention of this word diligence we find in verse 10. And we will draw on this verse 10 this evening. Therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your calling the election sure. For if you do these things you will never stumble. That's the second mention. And there's one more mention in chapter 3. But we will not touch that. But what we will draw tonight is just chapter 1 verse 10. Therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your calling the election sure. For if you do these things you will never stumble. Now this word diligent if you have different translation it comes across in a different way, different shades of meaning. In some versions say work hard, make every effort, try very hard. Now this word diligent is not for lazy people. Now we heard Brother Kong mention it. He said it was moody. He said a lazy person can never be saved. And Paul is encouraging the saints. He said make every effort, even more diligently, giving all diligence. Work hard, make every effort. Why? Because this is vital. And Peter says if you do this diligently to make your calling the election sure. He said there's something promising. He said then if you do these things you will never stumble. Now point number 2. One of the reasons why we stumble as Christians is because we do not diligently. To make sure what we are called or chosen unto. That's our problem. Because we are not sure who we are. So when the wind blows this way you pose that way. When the wind blows you pose that way. Unstable. Not sure. Not sure. And Peter's challenge to the believer. He said give all diligence to it. To make sure that call that you have received and why you are chosen. Now call is general to everybody. But when it comes to the matter of election and choosing it's very individualized. It is how you respond to that call determines whether you are chosen or not chosen. God calls you. He chooses you. He knows what he's doing. But when you hear the call and you make a response as something you are unsure, not very sure of what that call really involves. And what you are really chosen unto. We are not sure. And because we are not sure we stumble. We stumble. And the problem with many Christians is because we are not sure of that call. What we are chosen unto therefore we stumble. And so during our November time together there is a need for young people to come together through this winter months. Because in the summer we have many conferences. A lot of you came to Richmond Family Conference in June. Later you went to Lebanon for the Young People's Conference in Kimbrook. So in the summer you are spiritually high. You feel good. Fellowship with God's people. You feel wonderful. Then in the fall you all go back to your school. And there goes your decline. And there goes all your stumbling, your failing, your falling. And so the brethren feel there's a time for us to get together through this winter weeks, through this winter weekend when out there it's very cold. Just to come to reflect together spiritually. This in my part, this call, this choosing of us. Now basically this life that we have, we are called to, we are chosen unto, is to have his life. We are called to possess his life. It's a matter of life and death. And to have his life and to have it more abundant. Life. Not just teaching. Life to live. Life to express. Life to experience his life. We are called to life and we are chosen to live that life and to express that life. That's our calling. We have a wrong conception when you think about calling and choosing. We think you are called to do something for the Lord. That is a wrong conception. Because all the other service, gifts and ministry comes from that life. Sometimes I feel we share with young people prematurely, share with them about gifting and ministry without basically giving what that life is all about. So when they go back, try to serve, they rely a great deal on their natural energy and they face many frustrations and disappointments. But life is basic. Now I hope all of us here in this room, we are possessors of that life. That is fundamental. Now this life basically is a separated life because you cannot find it here in this world. It's apart from what we have down here. It's divine life, it's God's life. So when you live that life, people find it very strange because they never witnessed anything like it. It's a new thing. And no wonder we are strangers and pilgrims. We are strangers to the people of the world because we live a separated life because that life possess us, operating in us, living in us, through us. Now this weekend we are here away from the world. Thank God for that. But physically, are we separated inwardly? It's not an external thing, but it's an inward thing. Externally it's put on, but when there's inward separation, then that is real, is within. Now so this evening I'll share briefly just a little bit of what this life is like. Because we have this life, my brother and sister, then we can walk in the light as he himself is in the light. Then we can have fellowship one with another. That's why we're here this weekend, to fellowship. It's because we have this life, we can fellowship in the light. Now I pray as Brother Dan and I share tomorrow, Brother Kong and Alan Hill, the Lord's light will shine upon us. God is light and his light will see light. This weekend in South Jersey, one brother share, to be guided by the Lord, first you must be found in his way. He will guide you. To see light, you must have that light. Only that light can live in that light. Because if we come to that light with our natural life, that light will kill us. That light will judge us. Because that light is God himself, the holiness, God's holiness. And so this week we have fellowship. Now when we fellowship, there's a great deal of adjustment we need to have in our public. Fellowship is a life adjusting to the world. I want you to be prepared to be adjusted. Some people say when you're older, you are more set in your way. It's harder for you to make adjustment. But I'm not so sure anymore. I find some young people are very set in their way, very much. So once habits form, it is very difficult to make any adjustment, whether you are young or old. So if you walk in the light and see himself in the light, and this light we possess enables us to walk in that light, to fellowship with one another, and particularly with God. Therefore, on our part, there's a great deal of need for adjustment. Now of course, I'll be prepared for spiritual adjustment. That is fellowship. Because when that light comes, it exposes in us that which is not of him, which is not pleasing to him. But at the same time, that light shows us a way out, the Lord Jesus. So that we can have fellowship, and his light can be in us and live through us. And we can live that light that is pleasing to him, and that fellowship can be maintained. So God's fellowship is a lot of adjustment. So this weekend, I pray through the sharing of the Garden of Success, we will be willing to make any adjustment the Lord requires of us. That's how we get to know him. That's how we learn him, by adjusting us to him. Not for him to adjust to us. Because he's unchanging. All the changing required on our part, not on his part. So I pray and hope that today, this evening, as you fellowship prayer, and tomorrow, we need to come before the Lord, allow the Lord to tune us, adjust us. That is fellowship. That's how we get to know him. Our life before the Lord is a life that is flexible, that he can adjust us, change us into his likeness. So God says, don't be set on your ways. So every time we come to conference like this, let the Lord set us free from our old concepts, old ways of thinking, old habits. Trust that the Lord can do a new thing with all of us. Young ones, as well as with the older ones. We all need to adjust. So that life in us allows us to live in that light. But when that light comes, then we adjust. More to himself, and as John put it, we decrease that he might have his increase. It's a constant thing. We need to experience it every day. So this is the first thing. Now the second thing about this life, this life is not earthly. When we believe in Lord Jesus, we came out of darkness into his light. As Paul puts it, we are lifted up out of the earthly, we are now taken up into the heavenly, where Christ is. Colossians 3 taught us that we are not below, we are where Christ is. Therefore he said, we must set our minds to be mindful of the things above. Now this life enables us not just to live in the light, but this life gives us the ability to occupy with the things that are above, not the things below. You think of it, my young brothers and sisters, how much of your time is occupied with the things below? You think about that. Things that are passing. Things that have no eternal value. You think about that. And how much of our time are we occupied with things that are real value? Heavenly things, spiritual things. Now if you live by that life that's given to you, divine life, eternal life, God's gift through Jesus Christ, indwelling by the Holy Spirit, we can walk in the light, thank God for that. But we're also given the ability to mind the things above. Thinking about things that are real, of real value to the Lord. Things that are real eternal value that will last and last forever, not just temporal passing by. You know in Genesis, first day of creation, it was separation of light and darkness. So when God comes in, there's that separation. We are out of darkness, we are not into light. Second day, there's also separation. The water is below the fenomenon and the water is above the fenomenon. So we become a heavenly people. We are not earthly people anymore. But if you read Genesis 1, you discover when God created, when God said that there'd be light and there was light, God said it was good and it was so. So you can more or less put it this way, Genesis is a book about God's will, God's purpose. So his purpose is for us to have light and to have life. Then second day, the separation of the waters above and below and in the middle there is the atmosphere. Now for instance, we are above, we are not below. We've been separated. He took us out of the world into himself. We are now in his kingdom where Christ is. And then Paul said we should be mindful of the things above, not the things below. Now for instance, here we have a problem here. If you read Genesis, first day God said it was good and it was so. But if you read carefully, you know in second day there was no mention it was good. Because later on you will read Paul said it was so because Satan is the prince of the air. Yes, we are above, but he's the prince of the air and he will go do all he can to bring us downward to the things that are earthly. Therefore, the pull is always there. Now this pull is not just you feel it when you are young, older folks do. It's always there. Therefore, we have to fight. We have to diligently make sure our calling, make sure our light is up there and stay there and not to be pulled down by Satan, but the attraction of this earth. For instance, it takes hard work to know where you belong and stay there and not compromise it. It's hard work. It's not easy. You've got a temptation sometimes just overwhelming, but you have to resist. But before you can resist, you must know your position. Then you can release it because you are in Christ and the heavenlies and Satan cannot touch Christ. Therefore, he cannot touch you. Make sure you know you are in him. So make all diligence to make sure your calling, your choosing in Christ. Abide in there. Stay there. Not come out of him. Then you have that assurance that through his life you can overcome. Now, another characteristic of this life is this life is light out of death. This life can enjoy light and fellowship. Thank God for that. This life enables us to mind the things above, things that are really important, of real value. Thank God for that. This life is also light out of death. Now, for instance, this world is full of death. The consequence of sin is death. If you are not a Christian, you are not so much aware of the evil that's out there. But once you're a Christian, that awareness is getting sharper and sharper. You know, the Lord's Prayer, to what do you mean? He said, lead us into temptation, but deliver us from what? Evil. Only as Christians we know the evil that's out there. And our prayer is the Lord will deliver us from the evil that's out there. Unfortunately, Satan is very cunning. Sometimes he appears as the angel of light. He knows how to camouflage himself. He's very good in the art of packaging his goods. But with that wonderful packaging, inside is a poison, death. You know, I always remind the saints where we fellowship. In this last day, the Lord needs to renew us a consciousness of what evil is really like. Then we know how to resist. We know how to avoid it. Because we saw so much of it, we get used to it and we lose that consciousness. Then the danger is that we compromise. There's real danger. And also because we are the Lord's, Satan particularly targeting his enticement owner. People of the world, you don't need to entice them, tempt them. They're already in his hand, in his grasp. But we are his target. And therefore the Lord's prayer, he told his disciples, this thing we need to pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us every day from the evil that's out there. Everywhere is death, but thank God in the midst of that, the Lord is a way for us, a life. I'm sure many of you young people experience in your school, in your situation, in some impossible situation you face, but somehow in the end you get through. That is life. That is life. So on the third day, the land appears. It's the resurrection and from that land there's a fruitfulness. So we have trees, fruit producing trees. So that is resurrection life. This life is a resurrection life that death cannot touch. Sin cannot touch. And the Lord wants us to experience that. Now this life is not just for all folks. This life is a life for every believer, every one of us. We need to experience, we need to possess. So on this third day, the Lord said it was good two times. Because it's his life expressed and there's a fruitfulness. Something that satisfies God's heart. Life reproducing us. That life reproducing us. So God says this weekend is just for this purpose. Through our time together, through our fellowship, we ask the Lord to enlighten us. Now God says are you prepared for that? When he shines his light upon us, we need to make adjustment. There are things we may think it's okay to do, but when that light comes, we know it's not right to do. It's not pleasing to him. Are we prepared to make the adjustment? If we want to know him and follow him, be in business with him, are we prepared? When his light comes, always convict us. Because we're still full of flesh. But thank God his light comes, it's not to convict us. It's to restore us. Love and mercy is behind it. So don't be afraid. That's how we get to know him. And that life, we can mind the things above. And that's how we're here this weekend. Through our fellowship, we may not discover what God wants. And go after it. You know this Harvey Civic Conference. Some of you came to Harvey Civic Conference. And Father Dan Ashe shared the first evening. He said, in this matter of going on with the Lord, we have here that aggressive spirit. I want it. We lack that. We are too passive. We wait for something to happen. But Peter was make diligent. Work hard. Make sure what you have is real. So this way we are here to discover what is real. The things that are above. The things that will last forever. And we are here to help each other. To discover that. We know something. But there's so much more we need to know. And that's what this weekend is for. For fellowship. So that when we go back to our different localities. Back to school. We have a definite goal for our living. We have a different direction for being a Christian. And Paul said, if we can make sure that of our correlation, then we will not stumble. And above all, lastly, is that this world is full of death. Everywhere you can count it. Sin, death, corruption. Sin in the flesh. But anger in the midst of that. There's that light that comes through. Now I'm not saying we are perfect. But somehow in this sinful, corrupt, all creation, light comes through. And we know it's not us. It's him. And that we can experience. And so we pray and hope that this weekend the Lord really bless us. And I hope you all come prepared. I know some 15 or so. How many from Houston? 14 from Houston. They drove here, what, two days? To stop overnight somewhere? Or drive through? Okay, two days from Houston. Just for one day of weekend. Two days here. Hardened effort. And may the Lord bless those who came such a long way. And then, you know, that is diligent. That is working hard to get here. And may the Lord really meet us in such a wonderful way. Now Toronto, they drove 15 hours straight through to come to just this weekend. Now why make such an effort? Why people make such an effort? Just come for one day tomorrow. Why do you think they make such an effort? What do you think? Aren't there more interesting places in Toronto you can go? Ice skiing, all that sort of thing. Go to Chinese restaurant. I mean, aren't there better things to do than come here? No. You see? Chip said no. Because it's here what? We fellowship in the light as he himself said. There's no place like it to be in the light and have fellowship. Wonderful place to be. Out there is all darkness. We have the light. We share that light together. Out there is all earthly. Things that are death, dying. We can touch heavenly. We touch life. That's all we need. It's worth it. Come from Houston. Come from Toronto. How about Memphis? How long did it take you to get here? You flew, right? You flew, right? That's right. That's luxury. That's right. That's right. Okay. That's not the way to go to kingdom. No. No flight. No bus. No. How many of you walked here? Nobody. Okay. But anyway, this journey, this journey, a pilgrim's journey is a walk. Whether you fly or you come by bus, spiritually it's a walk. And we need each other. That's why we're here. For instance, none of us can make it alone. But together, by his grace, we'll make it. That's why we're here. And so thank the Lord. And I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful. When I reflect the past few conferences, Kingdom, Toronto, Canada, and my heart just overflowed with joy. Knowing that in this evil generation, these last days, God is getting ahold of hearts for himself. Thank God for that. It's his work. So the Lord bless you. And tomorrow you have your host, team family, will serve you a good breakfast. And tomorrow is a big day. Big day. Now before I sit down, tomorrow afternoon, when we have our time with Brother Colin, it's question and answer time, right? Is that what we planned, Mark, John? It's question and answer time or Brother Colin share? Okay, good. Pray for Brother Colin. And also pray for yourself. That the question you ask will be helpful to all young brothers and sisters. You know what I mean? Don't be selfish. Just for yourself. But whatever you ask, make sure it will be beneficial to all young brothers, including me. Okay? Alright.