Date: December 23, 1936, afternoonPlace: Foochow
Question: The faith mentioned in Mark 11:24 is a promise. Can one lay hold of the faith in verse 23 as a promise also?
Answer: Yes, but there is a difference. The faith in verse 23 is a gift, while the faith in verse 24 is of grace. The faith in both verses is based on one's "faith in God" as described in verse 22.
Question: In Mark 11:12-14, the Lord cursed the fig tree. Was this too unfair to the tree, because the time of harvest had not yet arrived?
Answer: There are two harvests for figs, a winter harvest and a summer harvest. The harvest that the Lord was talking about was the winter harvest. There was not even one residual fruit left on that tree.
Question: Are all of God's provisions "wholesale"?
Answer: Objective grace comes "wholesale," it is not "retail." But subjective truths come to us item by item in our experience. If we go to the Lord for one or two items today, He will still give them to us.
Question: The Bible says that we should not have multiplicity of words (Matt. 6:7). What does that mean?
Answer: The multiplicity of words mentioned in Matthew 6 refers to prayers that are void of utterance, yet have many empty words added in for the sake of sounding pleasant to the ear. I may repeat words in my prayers, but I will repeat them because I cannot ask for anything further and there is nothing more to say except to thank and praise. There is a great difference between these two kinds of repetitions.
Question: Once a man lets go and believes, the Lord will live for him. Is this something instantaneous or is there a time factor involved?
Answer: With some people it is instantaneous, while with others it involves a long period of time. In your heart you should expect it to be instantaneous. However, if the Lord delays His work, you should be happy to accept His timing. This requires an enduring faith.
Question: Will believers today experience the kind of thorns that Paul was talking about (2 Cor. 12:7-8)?
Answer: No. Thorns are for those with great revelations, to prevent them from being puffed up. We do not have as great a revelation as Paul; therefore, we do not have his kind of thorns.
Question: Should we take a supplement of tonic when our sickness is gone, or should we take a tonic while we are still sick, believing that we are healed already?
Answer: If your faith will not be eaten away, you can take it. Some people eat away their faith when they take tonic. If this is the case, they should not take it.
Question: What kind of faith is the "shielding" faith? Is it the same faith as believing that the old man is crucified with Christ?
Answer: Yes. You can say that these two faiths are identical. We believe in God's Word and we believe in His promise. If we want to lay hold of one word, yet find that we do not have the strength, we should try to lay hold of another word.
Ying-ying asked: What should we do if we do not know the Bible that well?
Answer: Suppose you finish reading the Bible in two years and you understand and memorize everything, does this mean that you no longer have to read the Holy Scriptures for the rest of your life? Some people have spent thirty or forty years to study the Bible, and have only scratched the surface. Hence, it is always good to read the Bible, whether you read much or little. It also does not matter whether or not you understand what you read.
Question: Is the matter of Christ living for us the same as the fruit of the sanctification of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)?
Answer: Yes. When Christ lives in us, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and we live in them. This is like saying that the air is outside of us and also within us. If we are short of either one of these two aspects, we cannot live.
Question: Do we pray to the Father, the Son, or the Spirit? To whom do we pray the most?
Answer: Perhaps we should pray to the Father the most. It is also correct to pray to the Spirit, but we cannot make this a rule or a law. If we do, we will not be able to release ourselves.
Question: If we do not understand the background of a verse in terms of its time, place, and the person it is in reference to, will the Lord honor us and accomplish it for us if we still lay hold of it as a promise?
Answer: Yes, because the Lord says, "Believe that you have received them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:24). The Lord did not say, "You must understand before you will have them." We have them because we believe.
