Questions should be pertinent and limited to the subject of the lesson. Do not stray into unrelated subjects. For example, in speaking about “Salvation through Faith and Baptism” in the lesson on baptism, we only should ask what this aspect of salvation refers to. Do not jump from the salvation spoken of in this lesson to the salvation of the soul, and then from the salvation of the soul to the matter of the kingdom, and then from the kingdom to the difference between entering into the kingdom and going to heaven. If the scope is too broad and the questions stray too far from the subject, the original subject will be lost, and the discussion will become unfruitful.
Answers must be clear. If the questions are off the subject, you can answer by saying that it is a priority to know the lesson itself and that other questions can be saved until later. For example, if someone raises a question about salvation by grace or about the salvation of the soul during the lesson on baptism, just answer by saying that there are several aspects to salvation and that in this particular portion we are only concerned about the meaning of salvation.
Do not worry about repeating the message. A man can hear a message this year and forget about it the next year, and when you check with him the third year, he still may not have put the lesson into practice. Our purpose is not just to speak something to the new believers but to check whether or not they are practicing what they have heard. We should not speak something and then forget about it. Instead, we should ask whether or not they are doing what they have heard. For example, we may speak about rising early. We must check with them to see if they are rising early. If we speak about reading the Bible, we have to check with them to see if they are reading the Bible. When we speak on prayer, we have to check with them to see if they are praying. We have to keep pushing and checking with them, until they begin to practice and deal with these things conscientiously.
The leading ones have to find out how much time they should spend on a lesson and how long they should continue with it. However, I hope that the difference in pace will not be too great. If some have missed something or are too much behind, we should arrange for make-up lessons. In conducting the make-up lessons, we have to be serious about it. We have to be thorough in making up what we ourselves have missed. If we are not serious about it, we will not have anything to impart to others.
These lessons should be taught year after year. They should be taught continuously. Hence, the speakers must learn to be fresh in their spirit. The truths will be the same ten years from now, but the spirit cannot be the same. If the leading ones have learned to exercise their spirit and if their spirit is fresh, they can repeat a lesson again and again for ten or twenty years. If others are to be touched by your word, this word first must touch your own spirit. You must have a fresh touch of the spirit. If your spirit is old and you pass on only teachings, others will only receive help in doctrine. The doctrine will become something like the “Common Prayer,” which men recite in services week after week. But if you touch the word with your spirit, repetition will not become a problem.
The Christian life is a life that hinges on the Lord’s blessing. If the Lord’s blessing is with us, we will not be off the mark by too much even when the practical arrangements are not altogether desirable. But if the Lord’s blessing is not with us, we will not have good results even if all the arrangements are perfect. In some cases the Lord still grants His blessing even when circumstances are not all that ideal. In other cases the Lord’s blessing may be held back because of just a slight mistake. A Christian should not be after the achievement of outward correctness, but the way of divine blessing.