In the previous chapters we saw that the young people in the Lord’s recovery must flee youthful lusts and pursue Christ with their companions. We also saw that the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of “the Christ” and “the church.” In this chapter we shall fellowship concerning four strategic points regarding the young people: the need to know the life experiences, the practical way to carry out the Lord’s recovery, the need to read the Word and the messages, and the matter of giving in God’s economy.
In the previous chapter, we saw that the young people should join together in groups of five for the purpose of researching the things concerning Christ and the church. When a group comes together, one brother may ask the others if they can speak something concerning the assurance of salvation. The young people in the church may know how to call on the name of the Lord, and they have been saved. However, some may not know assuredly that they are saved. Eventually, their assurance of salvation will be tested. The young people should thoroughly fellowship matters such as the assurance of salvation and regeneration in their groups.
There has not been enough time for the church as a whole to cover these matters. As a result, the knowledge and experience of the young people is too general. The young people should take care of their own need in their groups of five. If they do not, we may eventually have a good number of saints among us, but they will not be thoroughly rooted in spiritual matters. If five young people cannot speak clearly to each other about the assurance of salvation, how can they help others? They may only be able to help them to call on the name of the Lord in a general way. In their groups the young ones should help each other to be clear about the life experiences.
Those who take the lead among the young people should recommend one or two points for them to cover each week in their small groups. We have been coming together in a general way for a long time. Now we need to lay a solid foundation in the life experiences. Every church needs such a solid foundation so that when new ones come to the church they can be helped to know the life experiences. Without such a foundation, we may have a large number of young people, yet not many of them will be clear about the truth.
We need to lay a foundation for the young people’s work. The young ones should be helped to know what the assurance of salvation is, what regeneration is, and what eternal life is. If each group covers one or two points a week, after half a year they will have covered thirty or forty basic points. This will lay a good foundation. It is not enough to come together and pray in a general way. The young people must do something specific, just as we eat something specific and definite at every meal.
To practice meeting in small groups is not a difficult thing to do. Every week after a church meeting, five young people could go to a brother’s home for fellowship. To spend even only fifteen minutes will be a help to them. They should not fellowship there in a general way. This is the time to cover two or three specific points.
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