APPOINTED TO BEAR FRUIT
(John 15:16)
Greetings and introduction
God give us another opportunity to praise and
worship him this morning. It’s a privilege to stand before all of you to
deliver from God’s word, and thank you Pastors for giving this opportunity.
Last year, we know that, there was presidential
election in the United States. Most of the people are interested and gave
attention to the election. In short, they elected Mr. Donald Trump for the 45th
US President. Though he did not win the popular vote, he won through the
electoral colleges vote; he became the president of the United States constitutionally,
and became one of the most powerful persons in the world. 
Here I would like to ask few questions for all of
you. But you do not need to answer!!
1.
Did the people or citizens of the US elect Trump as
to enjoy the wealth of US from the White House?
2.
Did the people/citizens of the US elect him to do only
for his own benefits from White House?
The ANSWER is NO!!
The Americans did not elect him as to enjoy his life with the wealth of US and
doing only his own personal benefits from the White House. The citizens
expected him to do great things for the country. They believe that he was the
best person among the candidates to lift up the United States! So, he has a
responsibility to do a great thing for the people who had elected him as their
president, and he must try to meet
the voter’s expectations.
In our Christian life
also, there are lots of expectations or responsibilities. But many times we
forget who we are and the
expectations of the One who has chosen us. Many times we failed to fulfill our
responsibilities towards God. So, this morning, I would like to remind all of
you (including me) and encourage you from Gospel according to John 15:16.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed
you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the
Father in my name he will give you.” (NET), and I entitled my sermon as “Appointed
to bear Fruit”
Background of the passage
We know that this
passage is from the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus instructed and gave a farewell
speech to his disciples before he was arrested. Jesus knew that he will be
arrested and crucified. He instructed his disciples on how to live and do
ministry after he left. He gave an example of his relationship with his
disciples as Vine and the branches, and told them the importance of abiding in
Him.
In this verse, we see
that, Jesus reminded his disciples about the election, purpose and he told the
way of fulfilling the purpose/expectation. I divided this passage into four sections,
such as – 1) We are chosen by God; 2) God appointed us to bear fruit; 3) Appointed
to bear fruit – fruit that remains; 4) The way
in which we bear fruit.
Let me summarize all these sections point by point…
I.
We are chosen by God
As we read in the
Bible, we see that God chose people in three different ways, to be a blessing
for others. 1) In the Old Testament time, God chose – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
his descendants. 2) During his ministry, Jesus chose his disciples to continue
his ministry and making more disciples. 3) After the death of Jesus, we are
chosen by God through Jesus Christ. It’s not because of our deserved and good
works.
In Ephesians 1:4, Paul
says, “For He chose us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world…”
Peter also says that,
Christ was chosen before the creation of the world…to save us. In 1 Pet 1:21,
we see, “Through Him (Christ) you/we believe (in) God…”
In John 3, we see that, “For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because they have not
believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (v. 16, 17).
Paul also says in
Ephesians, “By grace we have been save, through faith (in Christ), and this is
not from ourselves, it is the gift of God (the Father). Not by (our) works….”
(Eph 2:1-10).
God chose us through
Jesus Christ. It’s not accidentally, but the divine plan! We can worship and
praise him in this place, because God chose us before the foundation of the
world through Jesus Christ.
II.
God appointed us to bear fruit
The second section we
see in this verse is the purpose of God’s choosing; that is “He appointed us to
bear fruit”. We see the word “fruit” (Greek - καρπός) 9 times in this chapter. So, we can say that
this is one of the main themes of the chapter.
As I said earlier,
the US president Mr. Donald Trump is not elected to enjoy his life with the
wealth of US from the White House. He has responsibilities, and there are lots
of expectations from his citizens… We are also like that…
As we read Gospel according to Mark (3:14-15), we see that the purpose
of Jesus calling. Jesus appointed twelve disciples that, Firstly, they might be with him; secondly, he might send them out to preach; and thirdly, to have authority to drive out
demons. This appointment is for us also.
In 2 Corinthians
5:20, Paul says that, we are the Ambassador of Christ. We know that, the
ambassador is a responsible person for the organization or the country which he
represented. He must do what the sender expected him to do and works for the
benefits of the sender. He cannot live whatever way he wants to live, but he
should do what he is supposed to do and work assigned to him/her. We are the
Ambassador of Christ, so we should live in a way God wants us to live.
We are appointed to bear fruit. We are appointed to
preach the gospel and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Not only to get or
receive blessings from God.
Last year, the
Ministry of Home Affairs barred more than 14,000 NGOs from receiving foreign
funds. Lots of Christians NGOs are also included. Some people say that, lots of
NGOs and mission agency or charitable association misuse lots of money. I think
it would be true. We want to get/receive, but most of us could not handle it properly.
The supporters gave for the ministry and for the people in the darkness, but they
build nice houses, buying a nice car, use money for our own and spend money for
other reasons… That is why, many agencies failed in accountability, and also
failed in their ministry.
Few years back, one
of my friends told me about her experience. She was invited and went to attend a
mission conference in Hyderabad. When she reached that place, she knew that,
she is falsely portrayed as a fulltime missionary in their native place. The
organizer did not allow her to talk with the foreigner, who sponsored that
agency; the organizer says that she is one of their missionary. They gave
travelling expenses and provide food and accommodation. Some Christian agencies
are like this; that is why MHA barred lots of NGO’s FCRA registration.
As I said all this
things, I don’t mean that, we will not get or receive blessings from God. What
I meant is we are not only to get/receive the blessing of God or something good
from other. God did not chose us to receive, but to bear fruit.
III.
Appointed to bear fruit – fruit that remain
Jesus told his
disciples to bear fruit – the fruit that remain.
ESV Global Study Bible
writes, “The purpose of Christ’s choosing is not only that their sins be
forgiven and they have eternal life. It is also their lives will be fruitful in
fulfilling God’s purposes”
He talks about the
quality of the fruit in this part. What is that fruit…?
In one way, we can
say that this fruit-bearing refers to the bringing forth of such product of
divine grace as those mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 such as – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Eph 5:9; c.f. Col 1:6;
Heb 12:11; James 3:18). Did we bear any kinds of these fruits in our life, let
examine ourselves…
As we read the book of Hebrew, the author pointed
out some instructions for the believers towards living a positive Christian
life through many works. I think it’s also applicable for all of us… let me
summarize point by point… the author wants us to live as…
1.
to keep on loving one another as brothers and
sisters (v. 1).
2. to show hospitality to strangers (v. 2) ----Romans 12:10-13; 1 Tim 3:2;
Titus 1:7-8; 1 Pet 4:9. Abraham/Lot show hospitality to unknown/Angels, got a
blessing.
3. to remember those in prison (v. 3)--- especially prisoners, those
imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel.
4. to honor marriage and keep pure, because God will judge the adulterer
and all the sexually immoral (v. 4).
5. to keep life free from the love of money, and be content with what we
have… because, God will provide all our needs (v. 5).
6. to remember our leaders, who spoke the word of God to us (v. 7)--- 1 Tim
4:16.
7. be careful from the false preacher and doctrines (vv. 9-10).
8. be suffer like Jesus, because we do not have an enduring city in this
earth (vv.11-14)
9. to praise God continually (v. 15)
10. not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased (v. 16)
11. to have confidence in our leaders and submit to their authority…so they
can work joyfully, and it will be beneficial for us/followers (v. 17).
12.
to pray for one another (v.18).
In this context, I
think, the fruit that Jesus is asking to bear his disciple is more focus to
preach the good-news and transform the people in the darkness into light to
have eternal life or to make his disciples or to lead people into Christ. This
is the commandment which he made before the ascension to heaven (Mat 28:18-20).
In sermon of the
mount, Jesus said, ‘You (believers/His disciples) are the salt on the earth, do
not lose your saltiness; you are the light of the world, do not hide your
light, shine before other, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven’ (Mat 5:13-16).
Our abilities,
ministry, gifts and talents (mentioned in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Cor 12:7-10;
Ephesians 4:11-13 (1 Peter 4:11) might not be same, but we must use it for the
glory of God.
But it would not be
enough to bear fruit – the fruit that remain, that is why Jesus told us the way
in which we should bear fruit in the following.
IV.
The Way in Which We Bear Fruit
Jesus knows the
condition of human beings and their limitations. He knows that all of his
disciples cannot bear fruit only through their wisdom, power, wealth, knowledge
and commitment alone. So, he told them
to ask help from God in his name. In John 16:23 & 24, Jesus affirmed that
the important of prayer like, “…very truly I tell you, My Father will give you
whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my
name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete”
Prayer is one of the
most important things to do for our spiritual life. Jesus told many times to
pray and ask help from God. In Mat 7:7, Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.” We also know that, prayer changes many things and prayer is one of the
best weapons for Christians.
All of the great
missionaries and preacher are prayerful persons. They know what they are doing,
they know their oppossers, and they know their helper.
Moses is one of the prayerful
and greatest leaders in the Bible. According to Stephen speech in Acts, we know
that, Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in
speech and action (Acts 7:22). But, when he faces problems and opposition, he kneel-down
and prayed to God. That is why he became a successful leader throughout the
history.
So, it’s clear enough
and we can conclude that, the way in which we bear fruit is “Prayer”
In the proceeding
verse (v. 17) also, we see the commandment of Jesus Christ, that is “to love
each other” Through love, we can bear fruit.
Conclusion….
Last
month, I brought a book called “The 99
Success Secrets of Jesus Christ: How to Create Miracles in Your Life”
written by Don Daniel Ortiz. In this book, the author wrote 99 success secrets
of Jesus Christ and he entitled Secret #1 as “He Knew Who He Was!” He knows his identity. Where he came from, and what he supposed to do. Knowing our identity is the key for success. Let me read last two paragraphs.. 
“Knowing who you are, your true spiritual
identity is the key to unlocking your potential. If you believe you are
anything other than a spiritual being, a “god,” your hopes, dreams, and
consequently achievements will be reflected accordingly. Your identity sets the
boundaries of what is possible for you. Jesus said, “If you say to this
mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible
for you.” (Mat 17:20). Who other than a “god” is capable of such a feat?
The real you is not
a body, vocation or ideology. You are a spiritual being, living in a physical world,
with a divine purpose. You contain the divine spark of life that is formless,
changeless, and eternal. You are light, made in the image and likeness of God.
You can change your mind and destroy your body but the real you will last
forever. Knowing who you are, and that nothing is impossible for you, is the
greatest success secrets in the world!” (p. 15). Do you know who you are?
We are chosen and sealed with Holy Spirit.
But, one thing, we
must remember in our mind is that, while we are trying to bear fruit, we will have
oppositions and problems. We know that, Mr. Donald Trump did many things within
a short period of his presidency. But the opposers are also very active in
other side.
We do not belong to
this world. We do not belong to all the creations in the universe. We belong to
God and represented him and we are here to fulfill his commandment, plan and
purpose. That is why our oppposer, Satan and his team oppose us. Jesus knew
that opposition will be there, he said, “you do not belong to the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (v. 19).
We are chosen and
appointed by God to bear fruit and sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). In
all our ways, opposers will try to destroy us and try to fail us in fulfilling God’s
expectation from us. Sometimes, he uses our family members, our relatives,
church members, and from different places. When we face problems and
opposition, we must ask God and we must ask his help in the name of Jesus
Christ.
Application:
1.
We do not become the children of God by accident. It’s
a divine plan and purpose before the foundation of the world. We are precious
and valuable.
2. We are chosen not only our sins be forgiven and have eternal life. It is
also our lives will be fruitful in fulfilling God’s purposes.
3. We were appointed to bear fruit, not only to receive something good from
God or his blessing. We must do good things to others and make His disciples. Our
abilities, talents and gifts might be different, but we must use to glorify
God.
4. We are Christ’s Ambassador; we represent Him alone in this world. We are
here to continue his ministry and to fulfill what he has commanded to us.
5. Our abilities, strength, and wisdom will not be sufficient to bear fruit.
We must ask God the Father to help us in the name of Jesus Christ.
6.
We must face trials, temptations, sufferings, and
oppositions from various places. We will have problems in our life, in our
church, and in our ministry. But, God is with us, he will help us and guide us,
and with him, we can fulfill His purpose in our life.
May the Lord bless
us, help us and strengthen us through His word…. Thank you.
@ ACA Campus Church||05032017
