Prayer: Lord, how we thank You that You have gathered us again into Your name. It is the name that is above every name. Lord, we need You, and we want to talk to You. We are here waiting for You to give us some instruction. Lord, we are so dull in understanding Your words, so we need You. We are foolish and ignorant; we do not have the understanding. Lord, have mercy upon us for the fulfillment of the New Testament priesthood of the gospel. We need Your understanding. Open up our understanding. Show us the secret of how to practice the New Testament priesthood of the gospel. Lord, we need You, and we need Your instruction. We are here, Lord Jesus, trusting in You. Come to each one of us. We believe that many saints are happy with and are waiting to take this way; yet thus far we have not seen any kind of model, any kind of pattern. Lord, here we are. Tonight we still ask You to speak to us, even to talk to us with patience. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
In this message we will continue to fellowship concerning fruit-bearing. In John 15 the Lord reveals fruit-bearing in a very detailed way. This entire chapter deals with fruit-bearing, and it contains some of the more difficult verses in the Bible. In verse 8 the Lord says, “In this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and you shall become My disciples.” Why does the Lord suddenly introduce this term “disciples”? What is it to be the Lord’s disciples? In the title of this message, I have used the verb form-being discipled. We have to be discipled for bearing much fruit. The Lord Jesus also used this term in Matthew 28 when He said, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (v. 19). John 15 was spoken right before His death, and Matthew 28:19 was spoken shortly after His resurrection. The disciples learned directly from the Lord to be disciples, so they were qualified to disciple others.
In John 15:16 the Lord said, “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; that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.” This verse is wholly concerning fruit-bearing. If we are going to bear fruit, first we must be chosen, and second we must be appointed. Then we should go forth and should bear fruit, and our fruit should remain. We need to consider how to carry out these three things: to go forth, to bear fruit, and to assure that our fruit remains.
In these days, we are going out to visit people to bring them to Christ and to baptize them. Then we intend to feed them, to have home meetings with them, to have small group meetings with them, and to bring them into the church life. Merely to get people baptized is not too hard, but to feed, to nourish, and to cherish people is not so easy. To bring them to the small group meetings is difficult, and to bring them into the church life as remaining fruit is even more difficult. Those who have fruit trees know that when the fruit becomes ripe and sweet, the birds may come. The birds come not to eat the new fruit but to eat the ripe fruit. While we are working, the evil “birds” are waiting. This corresponds with the Lord’s word in Matthew 13. The first kind of soil for His sowing was the soil “beside the way,” but because the soil beside the way had become hardened by the traffic, the seeds could not penetrate it, “and the birds came and devoured them” (v. 4). We have to do something to assure that our fruit will remain. Our fruit may be all right, but if we are careless, the next day it may be damaged by the Devil. There are many things we have to do to gain and preserve our fruit. It is not as simple as we may think. To go out to visit people for the preaching of the gospel may seem easy, but actually it is not. If it were easy, it would have already been practiced by many Christians for centuries.
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