BEING SERIOUS AND DESPERATE TO GO FORTH AND BEAR FRUIT
If we see that we have been charged by the Lord, we will have a heart to carry out a successful contact with the sinners. We must be serious, earnest persons. We all have to do a job to make a living. The sisters, as wives and mothers, have to take care of their households. But if they have seen that they have been charged by the Lord, their hearts will not be fully occupied with their households. Although they take care of their responsibilities properly, their deep desire should be to go out to visit people with the gospel, to contact and gain sinners.
The Lord is hungry for sinners. In John 4 He told His disciples: “I have food to eat of which you have no knowledge” (v. 32). The Lord’s food was to gain the sinners. When He gained that immoral woman, she became His food. That satisfied His hunger. We all must realize that the Lord is hungry and is waiting to be satisfied.
The lack of gospel preaching today in Christianity is shameful. Christians may like to talk about many things in the Bible except fruit-bearing. In John 15 abiding is not merely for abiding. Abiding is for fruit-bearing. The Lord Jesus says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes it away” (v. 2). To be taken away is to be cut off from the vine. Many Christians have already been cut off; they do not have the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. Some may say, “I have not brought one person to the Lord for six years, yet I enjoy the Lord very much.” This is based upon their feelings, not upon the fact. The fact is that they have not borne fruit. Fruit-bearing is the real evidence that we genuinely enjoy the Lord. His Word tells us clearly that if we do not bear fruit, we will be cut off.
We have to realize that we have been charged by our Master, and then we must be serious and desperate to go forth, to bear fruit, and to keep our fruit. This depends upon the Lord’s appointment in John 15:16. This appointment indicates that He has prepared an environment to accommodate our every need so that we can bear remaining fruit. The Lord has prepared and arranged all of our situations so that we can carry out our appointment. Verse 16 is like a mother telling her children, “I have cooked that you should eat.” If they do not eat, they will miss the opportunity. Today, many Christians are missing the opportunity. The Lord has appointed; He has arranged everything. Especially for those of us in the United States—what a good appointment we have received! We have not been appointed to live alone on a high mountain. People are everywhere. Furthermore, He has given many of us jobs for only eight hours a day, five days a week. Every evening we have three or four hours, and every weekend we have two days. This is according to the Lord’s arrangement and appointment. In addition, the Lord has given us many relatives. There is an environment and situation that is just right for us to gain people. When we meet the Lord, we will have no excuse because, by His appointment, He has prepared the environment with all the situations that we need for bearing fruit. The only problem is that we would not go forth. We must take this very seriously. It is not a matter of merely fulfilling our duty; it is a matter of life or death. We must be serious, earnest, and desperate to go forth to gain people for the Lord.
PRAYING FOR THE SINNERS’ SALVATION
To have a successful contact with sinners, we must be those who pray at all times (1 Thes. 5:17; Luke 18:1). While we are working, we must be praying for one or two of those with whom we work. We should pray: “Lord, remember these ones that I am burdened for. You desire all men to be saved. Remember them and visit them with Your salvation.” We must be persons who pray day and night without ceasing. God’s desire for man’s salvation requires our prayer for it to be carried out (1 Tim. 2:1, 4).
(The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
