John 15:16 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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John 15:16

Comments

The disciples were called to a life of lowliness. As part of the seminary course that they carried out they were sent out on one occasion and ordered to take no money, no spares, minimum possessions, and go on a long trek, living by faith, proving the power of the Lord. That was not binding upon them throughout their lives. It was just part of their training course. The Lord later changed those instructions. He said to them, ‘You remember when I sent you out to live by faith, dependent entirely upon prayer with minimal provisions? Well now, I send you forth with different marching orders.’ But that was their training, and from it they learned this – we are never to be acquisitive people. We are to be seen in the world as the apostles of the Lord not as people who are on the make. We are to live simple and lowly lives. We are to risk being looked down upon. This is not the rule for every Christian subsequently, but it was the rule for the apostles. And to balance these things they are given this information: ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.’ You are so significant, you have such inherent authority as apostles. ‘But we did choose you,’ they say, ‘of course we did.’ Their recollection is that they heard John the Baptist saying, ‘Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world’, and they decided to follow him. But now he says to them, whatever your recollection, it was not really like that. ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.’ I knew you before. I knew you before you were born. I knew you before the world was created. And I set my love upon you, I chose you. Elsewhere it is made clear that he chose us not because of anything in us. Not because we were any better, any different from any other sinner. By grace alone, by mercy alone, unconditionally, he selected, he elected us.

Application

‘That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name.’ Whatsoever, yes, but the context is fruit bearing. So ask him for fruit, ask him for character, ask for Christian graces, ask him for the fruit of the Spirit, and ask him for souls. Even today pray for souls, pray for souls in the Sunday school and the Bible classes. Pray for souls in the evangelistic service, here and everywhere.

What significance the Christian has. We are to live simply, reasonably. If God has given you riches, honour him with them. Do not let it go to your head; do not let your riches rule you. Be a grand steward. See in them God’s purpose to make you instrumental as a steward. But for most of us, we are not to look for that. Live reasonably, live simply, live humbly, live modestly. But at the same time, do not forget your significance. I have chosen you, and placed you. Placed you within your family, within your business, in your profession, in your locality, among your neighbours. You are placed to bring forth fruit.

Questions

What does the fruit include? We know it includes fruit of character, fruit of the Spirit, but it unquestionably also includes souls. In these days, there are pastors who are very worried about it including souls. Because life is a struggle and because we meet with so much resistance, they say, ‘No, the fruit is just fruit of character. You cannot argue that it includes souls and witness. If it did, the promise would be saying too much.’ And yet, we can show this even if we do it completely within the confines of John’s Gospel. Consider John 4.35, the words of Christ – ‘Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.’ Now unquestionably, fruit there applies to souls. Then again in John 12.24: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.’ The Lord is undoubtedly speaking about the vast number of souls that will be saved through his suffering and dying on Calvary’s cross. Other passages do not mention fruit explicitly, but they still show the duty that is laid upon apostles to gather souls (John 16.7-11; 17:20; 20:21-23). In the last mentioned passage Christ of course did not teach that the disciples had power of absolution, but that through the preaching of the gospel, through their instrumentality, absolution would come to needy sinners who repented. It is all about soul winning.

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John 15:16 Commentary and Bible Study