John 15 shows us how the many grains are built up together as a corporate increase. In chapter twelve we see the way to produce the increase, and in chapter fifteen we see the way of building. Verses 1 through 5 say, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes it away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
We may have the wrong concept that the fruit spoken of by the Lord refers to certain manifestations of life, such as the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5. In these days, however, the more I consider this chapter, the more I am becoming clear. John 15:16 shows us the real meaning of fruit in this chapter. This verse says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set 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.” If we read this verse carefully, we can realize that fruit does not refer to the manifestations of life. To bring forth fruit is to produce, to have an increase. This refers to the genuine outreach of the gospel. It is to impart Christ into people, causing them to become the fruit. In this chapter, fruit is the outflow of Christ into people, thus making them the increase of Christ.
Consider a fruit tree. The fruit on the branches of the tree are the increase of the tree. Fruit is not merely meekness, humility, or a kind of good behavior. It is the overflow of the inner life to produce an increase of life. Fruit trees are reproduced by the seed of the fruit. Within all the fruit on the branches of the tree there are seeds. When these seeds fall into the earth, they produce more trees. Originally there was only one tree, but after a certain time, there are many trees. This is the increase.
At the end of Matthew the Lord gave us the commission to go to the nations to preach the gospel (28:19). In Mark there is a similar word: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all the creation” (16:15). Likewise, Luke ends in the same way (24:47-49). In the Gospel of John, however, does the Lord’s speak there concerning the preaching of the gospel? It is there, but in a different way. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it seems that the preaching of the gospel is a movement, a certain kind of activity or work. It is only in the Gospel of John, the Gospel of life, that the preaching of the gospel is not a work or activity; it is an outflow of life. That is why in John 15:16 the Lord chose and set the disciples to go forth and bear fruit. This is to preach the gospel for the increase of Christ. We must go forth to produce Christ, to have Christ reproduced, multiplied, and increased thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold. This is the “great commission.” In this book it seems that there is no such commission for gospel preaching, but in actuality there is the real commission of gospel preaching. It is not in a way of work, activity, or movement, but it is in the way of life, in a way of the outflow of the inner life.
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