Applying All Diligence

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Short Summary
The discourse emphasizes the importance of diligently making one’s calling and election sure by cultivating eight progressive qualities: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. It highlights the need for daily effort and practical training in these areas to overcome spiritual challenges, grow in true knowledge of Christ, and ultimately become fruitful followers who embody love and godliness. The speaker encourages continual progress rather than perfection, using biblical examples and practical applications to motivate believers in their spiritual journey.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on “Applying All Diligence” and Making Our Calling and Election Sure

Theme and Context:
The discourse centers on the Christian endeavor to “make every effort” or “apply all diligence” in the spiritual life to purify the soul and secure the promise of salvation and eternal life as outlined in 2 Peter 1:5-7 and related scriptures. The speaker emphasizes that before receiving the promises, believers must actively purify their souls and cultivate spiritual qualities.

Audience Engagement and Purpose:
The speaker begins by acknowledging the many consecrated individuals present and invites reflection on the purpose of consecration. Common answers include the hope to win the prize, to become kings and priests (cf. Revelation 5:10), and to be more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). The discourse stresses that these rewards are gifts from God, not earned by works, but require diligent effort on the believer’s part.

The Importance of Making Calling and Election Sure:
The apostle Peter’s admonition to “make your calling and election sure” is highlighted as central (2 Peter 1:10). The speaker notes that this is not only a beginner’s lesson but a vital, ongoing requirement for all believers to be established in present truth (2 Peter 1:12). The apostle stresses continual remembrance and application of these principles, especially as believers face spiritual dangers and corruption in the world.

Consequences of Neglect:
Neglecting to cultivate these qualities leads to spiritual blindness and forgetfulness of the purification from past sins (2 Peter 1:9). This blindness is likened to a serious handicap, preventing spiritual growth and fruitfulness.

The Eight Steps or Qualities to Add to Faith:
The core of the discourse is the practical application of the eight qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7, which build upon the foundation of faith:
1. Faith (Greek: pistis): Confidence and trust in God, especially tested during life’s storms.
2. Goodness (Greek: arête): Moral excellence and determination to follow God’s principles, exemplified by the faith of the three Hebrew youth in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3).
3. Knowledge: Gained through Bible study, discourse, and fellowship.
4. Self-control (Temperance): Mastery over desires and impulses; personal example includes Daniel refusing king’s food to maintain purity.
5. Perseverance: Endurance through trials, viewing difficulties as training grounds for spiritual growth.
6. Godliness: Reverence and devotion to God.
7. Brotherly kindness: Loving care and concern for fellow believers.
8. Love: The highest spiritual virtue, encompassing all others; to be explored further in a subsequent discourse.

Practical Application and Daily Training:
The speaker encourages integrating these qualities into daily life as a spiritual training program. This includes:
– Morning Bible reading and prayer with conscious focus on these steps.
– Exercising self-control in everyday challenges, such as managing impatience or avoiding gossip.
– Viewing trials not as mere hardships but as opportunities to develop perseverance and faithfulness.
– Avoiding the “comfort zone” and worldly influences that weaken spiritual growth.

Examples from Scripture:
– Deborah’s faith and leadership that led Israel to victory (Judges 4-5).
– Daniel’s self-control in dietary choices (Daniel 1).
– The faithfulness of the three Hebrew youth in the furnace (Daniel 3).

Challenges in Practice:
The speaker acknowledges that while these principles are clear, actual application is difficult. For example, maintaining faith amid storms, controlling emotions, and persevering when disappointed require conscious effort and prayer.

Integration with Other Spiritual Methods:
The eight-step program complements other biblical metaphors and tools such as running the Christian race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) and putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). These qualities help believers to be fruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Goal of the Spiritual Effort:
The ultimate aim is to become fruitful and not barren in the knowledge of the Lord, to grow in love for God and neighbor, and to faithfully approximate perfection in this life, awaiting full restoration in the future kingdom.

Closing Encouragement:
The speaker exhorts brethren to daily remember and cultivate these qualities, recognizing that progress, not perfection, is the goal. The promise is that if these qualities abound, believers will not be unfruitful and will grow closer to Christ.

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### Bible Verses Referenced or Quoted:

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV) — “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
2 Peter 1:9-12 — Warning about spiritual blindness from neglecting these qualities and the apostle’s commitment to remind believers continually.
Romans 8:37 — “More than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 — The Christian life is compared to a race to be won.
Ephesians 6:10-18 — The full armor of God for spiritual warfare.
Daniel 3 — The story of the three Hebrew youths in the fiery furnace as an example of faith and goodness.
Daniel 1 — Daniel’s self-control in refusing the king’s food.
Judges 4-5 — Deborah’s leadership and faith.

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### Key Takeaways and Keywords:

Making calling and election sure
Applying all diligence / making every effort
Spiritual growth steps: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love
Spiritual blindness and fruitfulness
Daily spiritual training and progress
Examples of faith and self-control from Scripture
Endurance through trials as training ground
Complementing the armor of God and race metaphors
Love as the ultimate goal
Practical struggles and encouragement to persevere

This discourse serves as a detailed spiritual roadmap encouraging believers to actively cultivate godly qualities daily to secure their calling and ultimately share in the promises of God’s kingdom.

Transcript

Applying all diligence. Another version, the NIV says make every effort, and we’re reminded that beautiful scripture, which is here a theme and comes out so nicely. So we read that scripture and we read in the beginning now that you have purified your souls. So before we have this and we gain the promise of that scripture, we have to purify our souls.

And we’re looking on several ways to do it. One is applying every all diligence to make our Cornell election. Sure. So let’s see how that fits in here and how that fits in with other methods and why that is important, and we’re going on from the roots of that.

So that’s the agenda we’re going through later on. Before we start, a simple question. How many of you are consecrated? Please raise your hands.

I stopped counting. There’s so many of you. So thank you for that effort. So you all, probably in the beginning of your consecration and later on in the reconsideration of your consecration, had the question being here on the mind, what’s the purpose? And when we ask this question over in Europe, and it might be not much different than we asked the question over here in the United States or Canada, we got a couple of answers.

So to win the prize or to obtain the honor and position of kings of priests, and very often we do have also that we should be more than conquerors, as this scripture is as quoting. So these reasons are often given why we are what’s the purpose of our consecration and brethren? It is that we, we have a goal to go and that’s becoming the priestly or the kings and priests of the promise which has been given to us. That’s a reward and a blessing. It’s not something we can earn.

It’s a gift of the Lord. But we can do something about it, and the list here of the answers what’s the purpose of our consecration is. It’s not complete. I think many of you would now like to take a mic and say I would like to add here another reason that’s okay.

We don’t have mics out, unfortunately. Would be great to hear your reasons. So how do we do that? It’s one thing to know what the great and precious promise is. It’s one thing to know what this huge list in Ephesians chapter 4, 5 and 6 of requirements entering the kingdom, making our calling, election sure, with goals in connection to it means.

But what are the methods we can apply in our everyday life to achieve it? To achieve becoming kings and priests and to become true followers of Christ, which I’m sure we all are striving for, and we all do have made progress. So most known is to win the race. You know, you know The Story of First Corinthians 9. We have a race to, to go.

That’s a common picture. Let’s strive to be on the first place. Don’t be satisfied with place number two, and then another very much quoted picture is the armor of Christ. Take on the full armor of Christ.

We know all this in Ephesians 6. Another way of different ways to behave here in our everyday Christian life is of course to remember and to have in mind the exceeding great and precious promises. They are so necessary, they are so dear to us. Second Peter 1:14 speaks about them, and we know there are many, many wonderful, great and precious promises.

We have to keep them in mind to be ready and to be trained to. To what? To make our calling election. Sure, and there is an additional.

And that’s why we are looking at it from this perspective in Second Peter chapter one, verses five to seven, and that’s the focus of today of this study now.

Okay, so why we are mentioning things so clear for so many of us, isn’t that a subject for the beginners course? Shouldn’t Brother Sam go down to the young people and talk to them about these things? And again, we came such a long way that we hear these basic things. Why? Is there a special reason?

And brethren, yes, there is. The special reason is the apostle. The apostle mentions the importance of making our calling election sure in those eight steps he has foreseen and had in mind that we have the remembrance on it, and we quote here some scriptures and of second Peter chapter 1, beginning from verse 12. Therefore I will not be neglent to put out always in remembrance of these things.

So you know them and are established in the present truth. Brethren, to be established in the present truth, we have to be aware of those things.

That’s when I read that, you know, I was thrilled by that, by that thought and at the same time was thinking, okay, what’s the requirement? I would like to be established in the present truth, and then of course he retreats it, putting you in remembrance, and then after few verses later, the apostle comes up and says, I am in this tent. Some translated tent with tabernacle.

I’m in this tent. But when I go and leave this tent, he’s meant his mortal body, of course, I want you to have them always in remembrance, always in remembrance. There is a special reason, as we know why let’s Go and see. Because we have something to overcome. In order not only to make our calling an elaborate.

There is a program we will introduce you to that. It’s coming from the apostle, not from me, but you know, also having escaped from corruption that is in the world. So lust, and for this reason giving all diligence some translate all efforts add to your faith. 4.

If these qualities are yours and are increasing, remember the word increasing. They render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So these things are important, and the apostle repeated it. It’s something we have to do every day.

Something on the program every day. So another subject in our spiritual side is the following verses. But he that lacks these things is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that what has been purged from his old sins.

So if we’re not doing these things, the apostle indicates that we risk a certain blindness, and that’s not what we want to be. Even the lack of a glass like what has been found before might be for the one who is reading a big difficulty. Even more through the blindness, and when we talk to blind people, we can understand what that impact has on their everyday life.

We shall not be blind and about the things which happen, and of course there is a positive outreach. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, isn’t that what we want to be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? To be.

To be close to him, to deeply understand his sacrifice, his love, his understanding of our fallen nature, being our advocate, having given his life for us as our Redeemer. That’s not something abstract. That’s something which is far away. Something which is there but we don’t experience in us. We have to experience that every day.

Because we’re lacking of honor in front of the throne of grace. But how do we go on here? How do we can avoid the spiritual dangers not to be incident? How can we gain this prospect which is set before us and by surprise? These are things the apostle admonishes us.

But he gives us a wonderful lesson with it, and we are going about to speak.

So for this very reason, make every effort due diligence. Diligence. Be diligent to add to your faith, and that’s the foundation. Goodness.

And to goodness. Knowledge and to knowledge. Self control, and to self control. Perseverance.

And to perseverance. Godliness, and to godliness. Brotherly kindness. Brotherly Kindness.

Oh yes, and to brotherly kindness, love and brethren. This has been this wonderful convention from the beginning, has been declared as a piece a spiritual feast, and a wonderful spiritual feast. So we’re looking forward to learn more in the discourse of brother Stefan about love and brotherly love.

We’re not touching deeply into this one, but as you can see, the ladder gets high and we have to be aware that we have to make every effort. But again, knowing that every effort is necessary and knowing that the apostle admonishes us several times to have that in mind every day. How do we do that? Which approach could we have to achieve? At least some of the things which we would say is progress.

We’re not there to be perfect. That’s not possible. We’re there to make progress. Maybe that is possible. Let us look on some methods.

You probably have a tool set of your own, methods which you as long experienced the most of you, rose, the hand consecrated, have already developed in your everyday life. Maybe in this toolset here the apostle indicates something additional. Let’s see, there is several steps. Of course, we know the foundation of faith. It’s not possible for anyone to come in the.

To deal with our heavenly Father or with our Lord Jesus without faith. That’s. I don’t go into details with that. Sometimes in the everyday though, in details, maybe faith gets be challenged. Is that possible?

When we are in situations, we’ll deal about that. You can see here eight steps which are coming from the apostle, and it seems that the upper steps are building on each other and the down basis is faith. Okay, so going up these eight steps, I call it for myself the every effort program, and it should be reminded daily.

Let’s see how that can happen.

Let’s go first a little bit into the details. So the word faith, Greek pistis, is a truth, trusting faithfulness and confidence, faith in God. That’s easy to be said when there is no storm around us. It’s more difficult when we are confronted with personal or other situations where it gets stormy around us. So when the face is tested, and that can happen every day also in the little things, in the small challenges life brings with us.

So how can we say it? Maybe it’s in general, the plan, observation. Yes, but for some of us it’s not always easy in the. In the little things of life to see God’s hand is working and we’re trustful, most of us. I would say I have the impression, yes, but I’m not.

I cannot look into your hearts, but you can. So then Another Greek word is coming to the next step. The Greek word word ariti, and ariti can mean that determination and other inner moral qualities. That’s translated by goodness.

Maybe that’s a nice translation and that is of course linked in our case that we should understand the principles of God, that how God works, and we’re reminded, for instance from the Old Testament, a little story. There were three Hebrew young men putting in an oven, and you might remember how often that oven got overheated. Is there someone here around?

How often? Three times overheated, seven times overheated. So the servants died and there was these three Hebrew young men who were put in the oven, and you know what they said? They said, they said, we don’t know if the Lord will save us from that oven, from that burn.

But one thing is what we know. The Lord will be a rewarder of all who are trust and faithful. So we can put that in as an example of faith. But it’s also, you know, the determination and being aware of moral qualities. That is a story which doesn’t fit exactly the the subject.

But when we know the how our Lord is working, that he is a rewarder to all who approaching that he is thankful to all who are coming to him in the spirit of truth and worship him in truth and many, many other principles. That is a great help in this matter. Okay, let’s go on Knowledge, you know, we all are getting knowledge by reading, by studying, by exchanging. So we won’t touch this here now and go over a little bit to the temperance, self control. That’s something I sometimes have to struggle with when I begin in situations to get nervous because time is short and so on.

So I have to struggle that here and that’s a working field for me. Okay, so let’s go on a little bit, because the time. So how can we go? We have of course, the brotherly love, the godliness, the endurance, that all is necessary, and you know, of these things, you practice a lot of it.

I’m sure of that. So with the brotherly love and the love, we’ll let Brother Stefan go more into the details, but here are some examples of the Old Testament who would by their example fit to be a good example for us too. I would like to point to one of those. It’s the person Deborah that is for faith, and she was a leader in Israel and she was so believing in the promises they were given to her, that she was putting Israel to attack the enemy and to get free from 20 years oppression.

We won’t Go in any details of this. Those are examples for people in the Bible who had their struggles and they were overcoming and they nicely are overcoming. Some of which we know more. Some like Enoch we know little. But there are good examples to look up.

So if you’re interested in this list, it’s only. It’s incomplete. Okay, so maybe one example here which we have to be aware, self control. A good example is Daniel where he was refusing to eat the food which the king has foreseen to him in order not to be unclean, and this is showing that he had a lot of self control.

And also of course trust in the Lord. Okay, our daily program there is a lot of things we. We have to be aware. We can go in the system glens and having them on mind as we read in the morning the malatex as we go on having our prayers. We can also I’m suggesting to think of these qualities and to maybe do some exercise and some training program.

Why can that be important?

It’s about progress. We’re not will not reach perfectness in getting these steps in order to reach this goal, in order to make our calling and election. Sure, but it’s already good to make progress that we’re not fruitless, and then I’m getting this wonderful. In this wonderful situation that we will not be found fruitless.

So we have here, I’m going along in this list. Let’s go with knowledge. You know, we’re all practicing our daily reading schedule by reading the Bible, reading brother Russell’s works, reading discourses and discussing it with brethren in studies and so on. There I think are quite good. But maybe some of you would like to do more of it.

So maybe you add it in your daily program and then there are situations are coming where we maybe have to go on self control. As an example here in this list. Self control, master of desires, of impulses. Sometimes I do have a problem. My wife tells me or you too much on the cell phone.

So you should not look up so much in the cell phone. She’s right. I should be aware and maybe in self control perform an exercise. Let’s do less viewing of screens, any kind except this one, and you know this practical little things, they can help us to make progress.

They don’t all of a sudden make us arrive. You know, when we waited yesterday for the shuttle bus, we had to perform a kind of self control, and the brethren were a wonderful example. They were all waiting so patiently. Of course the fellowship was helping.

Yes, that’s true, and when we arrived we all were tired. But it was a wonderful example for me that all have been patient. They were all together in communication and we could see that is a wonderful group experience. So it was a test for us as a group.

Okay, so perseverance, that’s the last one I’m picking out here. The list is long, the time is short. Perseverance, that is to view trials as a training ground. Brethren, we are all undergoing different trials according to the living situation in which we are. According to the brethren, we meet according what the Lord permits, we have to learn.

I think most of you would agree. So we could go into the trials and say, okay, they happen, we have to be patient, and that’s already a good approach in this seven steps. But we can also say and maybe change a little bit the angle on which review by having the perspective. Let’s take it as a training ground.

And that’s easy to be said for me. I went through my trials. That’s easy to be said for me. When you’re now undergoing different trials in different situations. Trials with yourself, trials with the family, twice with the health, trials with the brethren, whatever trials.

If we can step back a moment and get it as a training ground, that would be helpful to make progress here. But it’s theoretical. In practice it’s much more different, difficult. I, I find it difficult. So don’t flee from to discomfort from discomfort.

So that means we might be in situations where we don’t feel comfortable, and that’s about many of these things. In our daily training program we have to leave the so called world sighted conflict zone to overcome something as those ancient worthies, as those examples from the New Testament, from the apostles and the brethren there as our brethren look as examples have overcome and we are now looking how we can do that. It’s leaving the comfort zone. That’s a picture well known.

But let us see. So training in situation, having that having said this, than when we have for instance self control, a suggestion would be to train if in situations, when tempted to gossip, for instance, or to even to lash out because we have a disagreement, we pause and pray and ask for the Lord to give us the strength to overcome this emotion which is coming up in us. This is dealing with emotions as an example here for me, training with self control is dealing with my emotions and I have to learn a lot still, and I hope I made some progress. Yes.

So another one is perseverance. When work hard or people disappoint you keep showing up with faithfulness.

Easy to be said.

A nice statement Isn’t it?

Who would agree with that statement? I think all of you would raise their hands for that, right? But so difficult to be done, and if it comes, it may be too late. It may be too late because we haven’t trained and it’s showing faithfulness.

We can maybe train by having it practically done, by thinking of great precious promises and thinking of examples who have acted well in such situations. Okay, final thoughts.

So if these things are in you and abundant, that is, if we progress and process them in some measures and continually cultivate them so that they become more and more abundant in us and rule us, and that’s not a thing which happened all of a sudden. It needs to be trained. They make us neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, brethren, these eight steps, they. I suggest, and I do that for me to include them in the everyday program which we.

We have to have our spiritual life oriented like a compass to have it oriented to make this progress. These eight stages or steps built on each other and can be combined well with other methods. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take the armor of Christ when we practice those it may be even include in some situations. That and other ways of dealing with the difficulties of our Christian work, and then finally, protection is perfection, excuse me, is something we can only approximate in this present life, but in the measure of our effort to achieve it.

For some example, in these eight steps will prove to be the measure of our faithfulness in achieving it, and we close with that thought which is on our. On our table here, that if we go on and improve on those steps, we will arrive loving our brother, loving one another and loving even our neighbors as we love God and ourselves. Easy to be said, difficult to be done. Let’s train it.

Thank you, dear brethren.

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