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Scripture Reading: John 15:1-2, 5-6, 16; 21:15; 2 Cor. 12:15
We need to be trained for our service and preaching of the gospel. The book of Romans covers the proper Christian life and church life. Since everything in this Epistle is a matter of life, the gifts mentioned in chapter 12 are gifts of life, not miraculous gifts. We can illustrate the difference between life and gifts with our physical body. Eating, drinking, and breathing, for example, are not miraculous. Unless we have an extreme problem, we do not depend on miracles for the care of our physical body. Likewise, to be trained for the preaching of the gospel is not related to anything miraculous. Balaam’s donkey did not need training when it received a miraculous gift to speak in a human language (Num. 22:28), but everything related to life requires training. Children need training in every aspect of their life. A small child cannot miraculously begin to speak at the age of two months. Rather, day by day and word by word, a mother trains her child to speak properly. Children must also be trained to eat properly. From birth, children have the ability to eat, but even that ability in their physical life requires some training. As Christians we are children of God. We have the divine life, and with this life there are many abilities. However, we are not superstitious to believe that as long as we have the divine life we can do everything and know everything already. Rather, we need training in every aspect of our Christian life and even the more in the proper church life.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all speak in plain words concerning gospel preaching. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations,” Mark 16:15 says, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel,” and Luke 24:47 says, “That repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations.” In the Gospel of John, however, there are no such plain words concerning the preaching of the gospel. Instead, chapter 15 speaks of fruit-bearing. According to John, the Gospel of life, preaching the gospel is a matter not of mere speaking or teaching but of bearing fruit. Life is not a matter of preaching. It is a matter of growing and bearing fruit.
Although we are in the Lord’s recovery, even now we are not fully recovered. To some extent we are still abnormal. Not only in our meetings but in every aspect of the Christian life and church life, we are still under the influence of old, traditional, degraded Christianity, and our gospel preaching is no exception. Deep within us is a subconscious misunderstanding and wrong influence. We consider that to preach the gospel is simply to speak a certain doctrine to people and that those who were born with eloquence can be the good, effective preachers. This is a poor concept caused by a wrong influence. Genuine gospel preaching is fruit-bearing.
In John 15 the Lord used the illustration of the vine tree to show that we, the branches of the vine, must bear fruit. If we do not understand what fruit-bearing is, we can learn of the vine tree. Branches are not good speakers, but they are good fruit-bearers. Bearing fruit does not depend upon our speaking or eloquence. It depends upon the riches of the life within us. Fruit-bearing is the overflow of the riches of the inner life. If we are short of life within, we will have nothing with which to bear fruit. Fruit-bearing is a matter not of speaking or eloquence; it is a matter of the rich flow of the inner life.
Many of us do not have the sense that if we do not bring people to the Lord, we are wrong. We eat in peace and sleep in peace, imagining that we are normal. This is according to the wrong concept that we received from our background. If we lose our temper with our spouse, we immediately feel that we are wrong and are under condemnation, but if we have not borne fruit for many years, we may have no condemnation. We may feel that whether we bear fruit does not matter, as long as we are not wrong in other things. However, a branch that does not bear fruit for a long time is seriously wrong. In John 15:2 the Lord Jesus said, “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.” The Father takes away the branches that do not bear fruit. This does not mean that the branches are lost. Being saved or lost is not the thought of John 15. Rather, this chapter shows that when we enjoy the riches of the vine tree, we bear fruit as the overflow of the inner life. Therefore, to be taken away from the vine is to be set aside from the enjoyment of the riches of the vine. This is not to be cut off from the salvation of Christ; it is to be cut off from the enjoyment of the riches of the life of Christ. This is the reason that many brothers and sisters do not have much enjoyment of the riches of Christ. They are in the church life, and they come to the meetings, but they have little enjoyment of the riches of Christ’s life simply because they do not bear fruit.
The way for us to enjoy the riches of the life of Christ is to bear fruit. The more we bear fruit, the more we need the life supply, and the more the life supply will come into us to meet all our needs. If you would tell me, “I do not feel that I enjoy the Lord very much,” I would reply, “Go and bear fruit! Then the riches of Christ will rise up within you.” Regardless of how much we seek the Lord, the spiritual principle is that if we do not bear fruit, we are cut off from the enjoyment of Christ, the supply and riches of the vine. How much we enjoy the riches of the vine depends on how much fruit we bear. We may compare this to a water hose on a faucet. We do not wait until the water flows to turn on the faucet. Rather, as soon as we turn it on, the water comes. If the vine tree does not afford us a supply, it is because we have “turned off the faucet.” To turn off the supply in this way is the Father’s cutting off of the branches. The Father does not cut the branches off of the vine in order to condemn them to hell, as some teach. Again I say, John 15 is not about being saved or being lost. Instead, it shows that we are all branches of the vine with the supply of the vine. Therefore, we need to absorb the life-juice of the vine tree so that we may have the rich flow of life. However, in order to have the rich flow of life, we need to open our being, let the life flow out of us, and bear fruit.
Many people speak of the normal Christian life, but to be normal is not only to be freed from sin according to the experience of Romans 6. This is only part of being normal. The most normal Christian life is a life that bears fruit. It is absolutely not normal for a branch on a vine to bear no fruit for many years. We must not forget that we are branches of the vine. As branches of the vine tree, we need to bear fruit.
Many of us may not care whether we bear fruit. Suppose, however, that one day a good speaker comes to us speaking in a marvelous way to stir us up. Then we will be on fire and pray constantly, praying even through the night. After a few weeks, we may be able to bring several hundred people to the Lord. However, this is abnormal. Branches on a vine are not stirred up by a good speaker and suddenly bear great clusters of grapes. Fruit produced in a miraculous way does not remain, and it may not even be genuine. We do not desire this kind of fruit. The Lord said, “I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). If many people are brought to the Lord by miraculous prayer and preaching, we may proclaim that this is marvelous. However, after a short time they may be nowhere to be seen. Everyone bears children according to their own kind. Therefore, we should not blame the ones whom we bring to salvation if they do not remain as proper fruit. They do not remain because we are not proper. In order to bring forth normal fruit, we ourselves need to be normal.
If we mean business to have a proper Christian life, we must bear fruit in a normal way. This can never be done in a miraculous way. We should not expect to pray in an extraordinary way and then miraculously bring many people to the Lord. Branches bear fruit in a very normal way. When I was young, I lived near a vineyard. I saw that every year the vines brought forth only one crop. In the spring the vines began to bud, and in the fall the crop came, one crop a year. We should not dream that we can bear fruit every day or every month. Rather, we must all bear fruit in a normal way.
To bring one person to the Lord every year is normal and easy. However, in the past year many among us may not have brought one fruit to the Lord that remained in the church life. This proves that we are not normal. What then shall we do? I cannot give you a way or method to bear fruit. According to a method, we have no way, but according to life, there is a way. Therefore, not to bear fruit means that we are wrong and abnormal. We must all go to the Lord and say, “Lord, grant me to be normal in the matter of fruit-bearing. Every year I must bear some fruit. Lord, as a branch of Your vine I need a yearly crop. I do not pray for a great amount of fruit in a miraculous way. Rather, I simply want to be normal, bearing at least one fruit per year.”
The test for whether a brother or sister is proper is threefold. The first test is the church life. Even if someone is considered holy and high, if he cannot go along with the church life, he is wrong. The second test is fruit-bearing. We may be in the church, go along with the church, and have no problem with the church, but if we do not bear fruit, we are also wrong. Some can pass the test of the church life, but they cannot pass the test of fruit-bearing. The third test is whether we are caring for younger believers. John 15 speaks of fruit-bearing, and John 21 speaks of feeding the lambs (v. 15). We need to take care of the little lambs. In most Christian churches, there is the shortage of the proper preaching of the gospel. In some churches, however, there is a prevailing gospel preaching, but there is still a shortage of caring for the little ones. One hundred may be saved and baptized, but only five or six remain. The rest fall away because of the shortage of the proper care. We should not complain that the leading brothers are inadequate for the need of shepherding. Rather, we must blame ourselves. If everyone among us would care for one younger one, the shepherding among us would be adequate. However, many of us regularly attend the church meetings and easily pass the test of the church, but not many pass the second test, and it is even more difficult to pass the third test. To pass only one test is to receive a grade of thirty-three percent, which is a failing grade. This is not a small matter.
The reasons that we do not bear fruit are that we are too sloppy and slothful and that we do not like to be dealt with. If we mean business with the Lord to bear fruit, we need to pay a price. We must bear fruit at any cost. All mothers know that to bear children is not easy. Mothers have no enjoyment in pregnancy; they have only suffering. This is the price they pay to be fruitful. We may not desire to pay much of a price, but Paul said, “I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent on behalf of your souls” (2 Cor. 12:15). Paul spent whatever material possessions he had, and he was spent in whatever he was in his spirit, soul, and body. If the Lord has mercy on us that we pick up the burden to bear fruit, we will immediately see that we must pay a price. If we are willing to pay the price, one of our relatives may be saved, and one of our schoolmates may be brought into the church life.
Fruit-bearing forces us not only to sacrifice but also to learn the lessons to be broken. Even if our spouse or children cannot force us to be broken, fruit-bearing will force us to be broken, if we mean business with the Lord. However, if we do not desire to be broken, we will be fruitless. Every branch of the vine that bears fruit suffers the breaking. If there is no breaking, the life-juice cannot flow out. We must not only sacrifice; we must be broken. Why have none of our relatives and in-laws been brought to the church life? Why do some of the young people not bear fruit in their school? It is simply because we are too whole. We should not say that our relatives have not been brought to the Lord because they are not good enough. We should say that it is because we are too whole. We need to be broken. Perhaps we are proud and would never humble ourselves before our in-laws. However, in order to preach the gospel in a living, prevailing way, we must be lowly, right, willing, zealous, and flexible toward people. If people are not ready to speak concerning the gospel at a certain time, we must be willing to spend ourselves to come again at another time. This is a breaking. We may prefer to choose our own time, and if we cannot choose the time, we may forget about speaking to someone. On certain days it may not be convenient to visit people, and on other days we are too busy. Then on Saturday we may need rest, and on the Lord’s Day we will need more rest. We may make an excuse, saying, “I work five days a week, nine hours a day, and after working all day, I have to attend the church meetings. Then on the Lord’s Day there is more than one meeting. How can I have time to contact people?” We may have a good excuse every week, but after fifty-two excused weeks, the year will be lost. We must not excuse ourselves. We may have many relatives, but we may have brought none of them to the Lord simply because we excuse ourselves too much. We must not remain whole. Our entire life must be broken. If we would be broken, it will be easy for us to bear fruit. Even though we are here in the Lord’s recovery, our Christian life is not normal because the increase among us is less than twenty or thirty percent. Therefore, we must pass through the test of fruit-bearing.
To care for the little lambs costs us even more. To bring forth a child is not easy, but to raise him up is even more difficult. To bring forth a child requires nine months of suffering, but to raise a child takes at least twenty years of suffering. Child-raising is very costly. Before a sister is married, she may not have any change regardless of how much others minister to her, but after she marries and has several children, these little ones become the best trainers to her. Many things that she could not and would not do, she is now able and willing to do. She becomes able to do everything for the sake of her children. For this reason I like to see all the young sisters marrying and bringing forth little “trainers.” Nothing can train us as well as marriage life with little children. Even if no one else can help a sister, her little ones will train her, and she will learn the lessons. Many sisters can testify to this. The proper church life is a marriage life; therefore, we should all bear some younger ones and care for them. If we do not, we are not normal.
According to this principle, almost all of us are abnormal. We should not wait to be appointed to be elders so that we may take care of others. This does not work. In the proper church life, we do not need “pastors” or good speakers to preach the gospel and care for others. What we need is every member as a branch of the vine to bear fruit and take care of the younger ones. We should bear the burden for at least one younger brother or sister. The Lord does not require us to bear many. It is sufficient to have a yearly crop of one person as fruit and one younger one under our care. If we would all bring one person to the church life each year and care for one younger one, the church life will be wonderful. To expect a revival in a miraculous way is abnormal. We do not desire to have a miraculous yet abnormal situation. Rather, we desire to have a very normal situation in which nothing is miraculous, but everything is in life. We do not expect anyone to bring fifty people to the Lord after praying for only a few weeks. Instead, we desire that by the end of the year, at the latest, we would all bring one person solidly into the church life and be burdened to take care of one younger one. If we do this, we will learn many lessons. The church life and fruit-bearing afford us many lessons, but caring for young ones gives us even more lessons. We must all pass the tests of the church life, of fruit-bearing, and of caring for others.
Our enjoyment of the riches of Christ’s life and our lessons in the spiritual life and church life depend mostly upon our fruit-bearing. If we do not bear fruit, we will be cut off from the enjoyment of Christ’s life, and we will forfeit the lessons in our Christian life and church life. Therefore, if we wish to constantly enjoy the riches of Christ’s life and to learn the lessons, there is no other way but to bear fruit and care for others. We must bring this matter to the Lord and deal thoroughly and seriously with Him. We may say, “Lord, my eyes have been opened. Now I see that I am not normal because I do not bear fruit. I am too careless in fruit-bearing. Now I come to You to have a thorough dealing.” If we would go to the Lord in this way and have a thorough dealing, the Lord will speak to us concerning a price we must pay or how we need to be broken and dealt with in certain matters. If we do not listen to His speaking, we will be cut off from the enjoyment of the vine tree, but if we do listen, we will have the deep experience of the enjoyment of the Lord’s riches. The reason we are not clear concerning what to deal with and in what matters we must pay a price is that we are under a cloud, but if we listen to the Lord’s speaking, our inward “sky” will be clear. There will be no need for others to tell us what to deal with; we will be clear within. We will also be clear as to which of our relatives, classmates, neighbors, and friends we should care for. The Lord will not burden us with too many.
We should not try to apply any methods when caring for others. We have learned that mere methods do not work. Even to make regulations for ourselves and to make up our mind do not work. Paul says, “To will is present with me, but to work out the good is not” (Rom. 7:18). Therefore, we should not merely use our natural will. We should simply go to the Lord and say, “Lord, I can do nothing, and I am not normal. O Lord, have mercy upon me.” The Lord is the heavenly radiance. When we go to Him, He will radiate His love and His burden into us. If nothing else forces us to go to the Lord, at least our need for fruit-bearing will cause us to go to Him. Many of us are abnormal because we have been fruitless. Therefore, we must go to the Lord to confess our fruitlessness to Him and stay in His presence and radiance for some time. Then something will be radiated into us. What we receive will be not a mere word or training from man but a heavenly “radiation.” Then we will be enlightened. We will see the things that we must deal with, and we will see in what matters we must pay a price. We should not say, “Do not speak to me of paying a price. I want something for free.” Rather, we must go to the Lord to deal with Him.
May the Lord impress us that we are abnormal in the matter of fruit-bearing. We must go to Him to receive a heavenly radiation. Then as we become normal, we will be the church in our locality composed of sound Christians who live a proper Christian life, not bothering people but impressing them that we in the church have something shining. This shining will spontaneously attract people and convince them. Even without our speaking to them, our relatives will be gradually convinced and attracted, and whomever we contact will be under our shining all year round. We may not speak to others about Jesus all the time, but we will have a shining, attracting power and a convincing element among our relatives, neighbors, and schoolmates. Even if they do not like us, they will have to admit that we are a higher kind of person. Then we can follow the inner “radiation” to take care of them. In this way, it will be easy to bring one person to the Lord and into the church life yearly. Eventually, everyone in our locality will know that the church is a wonderful group of people, and the church will double in size by the end of the year. At that time, every new one will be the same as we are. Just as children are the same as their parents, all the new ones will be fruit-bearing persons, and by the end of the following year, the church will double again. This will build up a good reputation and credit with people. Even the unbelievers will say, “If you want to believe in Jesus, the best place to go is that church.”
If we go to the Lord and remain with Him, the living Spirit will burden us to pray for certain ones among all those whom we know. To go to the street to find people is good, but this is not the best. It is better to work on people whom we know and who know us. Therefore, we need to build ourselves up among the ones we know, not in a natural way but according to Christ. Then they will all know the kind of life we live and the kind of persons we are, and they will be impressed, influenced, and convinced by us. Even if at first they do not care for us or for the gospel, they will not be able to deny that in our living there is something high, weighty, and bright. Then we can pray for them, not in a general way but in a specific way according to the inward leading. We may be burdened to pray for a certain relative for a whole month. The Lord knows how to gain that one. If we pray for him, then at a certain time he will come to us, or we will go to him. Of course, we should also have meetings for preaching the gospel, but the basic factor for the preaching of the gospel in a local church is the living of all the members. Without the daily living of all the members, the church has no ground for preaching the gospel. The gospel preaching of a local church is fully based upon the preaching daily life of all the members.
If a Christian means business with the Lord, it will be easy for him to bring one person to the Lord and into the church life. It is fair to expect this. To not do this is to go against the natural law of the life of the vine. Every fruit-bearing tree bears fruit annually. This is according to the natural law, the natural principle. The Lord does not require anything of us that is beyond the proper principle. According to the law of life, we should bear one fruit yearly. We must admit that this is true. This is the requirement according to the law of life. We should not place blame or make excuses. We must all admit that we have not lived in a normal way. If we had been normal, we would have fulfilled the requirement of fruit-bearing. From this time on, we must all go to the Lord and say, “Lord, this year I want to live a normal Christian life and a normal church life. I want to be fruitful.” We must go to the Lord to deal with Him thoroughly. We should pray, not in a miraculous way but in a very normal, constant way that all the members in all the churches will be brought into the normal Christian life and church life with a proper preaching and that we will all bear fruit according to the principle of life.
