In the New Testament, the Lord’s first call to us is, “Come” (John 1:39; Matt. 4:19). Then after we have followed the Lord, His first charge to us is, “Go” (John 15:16; Matt. 28:19). The Lord charges us to “go forth and bear fruit.” To carry this out there is the need for us to contact the sinners. However, to my observation, not many Christians are successful in contacting sinners. In this message we will fellowship concerning how to carry out a successful contact with the sinners.
To bear fruit we first need to be clear that if we have been saved by the Lord, we have also been charged by the Lord. This is a serious matter in the Bible. Our Lord is also our Master. One day the Master will come and set up a judgment seat, and He will call us to come before Him and be judged (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). In Matthew 25:14-30, we are His slaves, and He is the Master. He has given each of us some talents as capital with which to do business for Him, and He requires that we make a profit. The slothful slave came to his lord and said, “Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter; and I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth; behold, you have what is yours” (vv. 24-25). He did not lose anything of his lord’s, yet he was rebuked. His lord said to him: “Evil and slothful slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter. You ought therefore to have deposited my silver with the bankers, and when I came I would have recovered what is mine with interest” (vv. 26-27).
This parable in Matthew 25 applies to each of us. We were redeemed; we were “bought with a price.” Therefore, we are His slaves, and He is our Master (1 Cor. 7:22-23). The first thing the Master wants us, His slaves, to do is to invest the talent or capital He has given us, that is, to do business for Him. The profit from our doing business for the Lord is the fruit. We are not only slaves; we are also branches, ministers, and priests. As slaves we must use what the Lord has given us to do business for Him; as branches in the vine, we must bear fruit; as ministers of Christ, we must minister Christ into others; and as the New Testament priests of the gospel of God, we must handle the gospel daily. We all must realize our solemn responsibility before the Lord to be faithful in each of these aspects.
To the worldly people today, it seems that the Lord is silent. They have heard about Christ; they have heard about Jesus; but they do not care. They would say: “Where is Christ? Where is Jesus? You have been preaching and talking about Him. But where is He?” The unbelievers may talk in this way, and many believers may have similar feelings. Inwardly they may say: “Christ told us He was coming quickly, but nearly two thousand years have passed and He is not here yet.” Because of this kind of thought, most Christians today live sloppy lives. In doing so, they disobey or disregard the Lord’s charge to go forth to save sinners.
Many Christians love John 15 because it teaches us how to abide in the vine, how to enjoy the riches of Christ. However, in verse 16 the Lord says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I appointed you that you should go forth and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” The Lord did not choose us without a purpose. His choosing was for His appointing. He has appointed us for three things: first, we should go forth; second, we should bear fruit; and third, our fruit should remain. In this matter we have no choice; the Lord requires that we accept our appointment.
Regardless of how much we have spoken concerning this, there are some who think: “That is good! There is nothing wrong with preaching the gospel. If He has burdened that brother so much, then he should go. But I do not feel burdened to go. Surely, if the Lord wanted me to go, He would have burdened me.” We may not speak this, but this may be in our heart. One day, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will have to give an account of what we have done. If we have not been faithful, we will have to tell the Lord why we did not bear fruit, and the Lord will rebuke us. He may even remind us of this message concerning John 15:16 and ask why we would not take His charge to bear fruit.
Some say that they are busy and do not have any time. This is not true. If our house were on fire, we would not say: “I am too busy. I do not have time to take care of the fire.” What we have time for depends upon what we consider is more important. But regardless of whether we have the time or not, whether it is in season or out of season, we have no choice. It is not up to us. He is the Master, and He has charged and is still charging us to go forth and bear fruit. He will not let us go. This is very serious. If we do not bear fruit, we will be cut off from the enjoyment of the riches of the vine (John 15:2a, 6).
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