Disciplining Ministry: Paul's Call to Fruitfulness

"I keep under my body and bring it into objection lest that by any means when I have preached to others I myself should be a Cast Away now that's the sort of text that people say there you are there it is as plain as anything as explicit as you could ever desire Apostle Paul doesn't hesitate to say that he's got this fear and this horror lest that he having preached to other people will find himself ultimately unsaved Lost cast out of God's kingdom and suffering Everlasting punishment and torment they say he's so afraid of it that he has to mutilate his body almost hit it until it's black and blue that's the meaning of this phrase keep under my body he beats it the whole analogy is of a boxer hitting and bruising in order to keep it down." [00:13:52]

"The whole of this ninth chapter of one Corinthians is concerned about office it starts off with that am I not an apostle am I not free have I not seen Jesus Christ Our Lord are not ye my work in the Lord if I be not an apostle unto others yet th as I am to you and so on and he goes on saying that take I'm picking out verses at random verse 14 even soath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live by the gospel he's talking about the office of preachers verse 16 though I preach the gospel I have nothing to Glory of for necessity is laid upon me ye Woe Is unto me if I preach not the gospel and so on what is my reward then and on he goes though I be free from all men yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain them all unto the Jews I became he's telling you how he does his work as a preacher and as an apostle as a propagator of the Gospel message and as a man who establishes churches and teaches them the whole chapter is dealing with his office his position as a preacher teacher and Apostle and he goes on dealing with that right away to the very end of the chapter." [00:15:17]

"Now surely we must take that into consideration and not suddenly isolate this last verse it he brings his whole case and argument to a climax there's Point number one a second point is this that we must be a little bit careful with this word Cast Away as I'm reading here from the authorized translation it seems to give the impression as I say of being cast out Cast Away it actually means disapproved disapproved and his illustration that he's been using about people running in a race know he not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the priz well now he says I'm concerned about that but I may succeed that I may win that's what he's concerned about so that what he's really saying here is this that what he is concerned about is that he should not find all his labor and work as a minister and preacher and Apostle in the end useless so that as a minister and preacher and Apostle he's a complete failure and doesn't get any prize at all that's what he's really saying here and in a very interesting way he's already said the same thing earlier on in this same epistle let me take you to the third chapter of First Corinthians and let's begin to read." [00:16:30]

"Well let's start at verse 9 if you like he says for we are laborers together with God you are God's husbandry you are God's Building according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another man buth there on but let every man take heed how he buth thereup you see he's concerned here about ministry again about building about the preachers he's concerned about Apollos and himself for other Foundation can know man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ now if any man build upon this Foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble Every Man's work shall be made manifest it his work that's going to be made manifest you notice for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is if any man's work abide which he ha built thereup he shall receive a reward if any man's work work shall be burned he shall suffer loss yes as regards his work but he himself shall be save yet so as by far he's a complete failure as regards his work he gets no reward at all he suffers loss he doesn't get any prize as a preacher as a man who's been building upon the only foundation he's a complete failure he's utterly disapproved it's exactly the same thing in one Corinthians 9:27 both in both cases he is dealing with the work and here in 1 Corinthians 3 he draws himself the distinction between being disapproved utterly as regards your work but yourself still being saved." [00:18:00]

"Very well then isn't it rather important that we should pay very careful attention always to the context and make quite sure that the greater Apostle and others are not dealing so much with our personal salvation as with what happens to our work here's a terrible thing that every preacher in this congregation pay very careful attention to it it is possible that we may have spent a lifetime in the ministry and at the end disapproved as ministers and nothing to show for all that we have done that's the teaching of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 3 and in 1 Corinthians 9 and to complete this particular argument this must of necessity be the case you notice I don't start with that I finish with that this is now supporting evidence you deal with it first of all in terms of the actual text and the context you work it out and if you've got another passage that throws light on it or is parallel to it you bring it in you work it out like that in a thoroughly expository manner then you see that you've arrived at a conclusion which fits in your great foundational passages the unambiguous passages from which we have started the whole discussion and here is a case in point you can't find any parallel to this statement in 1 Corinthians 9:27 in all the writings of the great Apostle if it means personal salvation because what you get in the writings of the Apostle Paul everywhere is the great note of a certainty and of assurance and of his being Beyond any doubt or question absolutely certain as to where he's going to arrive you see we've got it at the end of this eth chapter I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our lord or take what he says at the end of his life in that last word of his in The Second Epistle to Timothy in chapter 4 where we've got this wonderful resounding statement I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them that love is appearing no doubt whatsoever you can't read the Epistles of the Apostle Paul without seeing perfectly clearly that he had an absolute Assurance of his relationship not only then but in all eternity to the Son of God who loved him who separated him even from his mother's womb but had revealed himself to him in time he' got this great purpose for him and there is no question or doubt about it whatsoever so you see our exposition of 1 Corinthians 9:26 7even puts it into line with all the teaching of the great Apostle concerning this personal question of Salvation everywhere in all his writings very well there is that example but now let us come to another example and here we come to that passage that I read at the beginning from the 15th chapter of The Gospel According to St John John 15 1-11 now you notice that I'm putting this under this heading passages that refer to office or function in the church rather than to personal salvation but let me hasten to say this there is disagreement as to whether it does come into this heading or not some think it does come under this heading as I do myself others do not think so but take it as referring to personal salvation well that means that I've got to deal with it from both aspects if I'm to help you now the words of course that are picked out for us are the second verse and the sixth verse every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he Purge it that it may bring forth more fruit and verse six if a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and Men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned well it's very easy to understand again how these verses do constitute a very real difficulty to people's minds and that is why I'm trying to help in this way and manner but now then the first thing I'm suggesting that here again we are dealing dealing with office function work rather than with personal salvation what are my grounds for saying that well my grants for saying that are these that I would argue that chapters 14 15 and 16 in John's gospel deal with that our lord is here speaking in particular to his own disciples these people who had been upset when he told them that he was about to leave them let not your heart be troubled he says he believe in God believe also in me and on he goes and tells them that uh Greater Works than these shall ye do because I go unto my father that's 1412 then he goes on to say how he's going to give them this other comforter and what he is going to do for them then you come to this great 15th chapter you can read it right through and you'll find that he tells them uh if the world World hate you ye know that it hated me before you if you were of the world the world would love his own but because you are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you that's verse 19 in this 15th chapter remember the word that I said unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you if they have kept my saying they will keep yours also I suggest it's all about teaching he's been doing it they are now going to do it he's warning them of what's going to happen and he's giving them the comfort and the consolation which will help them to continue and then he goes on to the 16th chapter these things have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended they shall put you out to the sagues here the time cometh that whosoever kth you will think that he doeth God's service and so on but these things have I told you that when the time shall come you may remember that I told you of them and then he goes on to say this I have many verse 12 I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now how be it when he the spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come and he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you all things that the father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you now I suggest that the whole time here we are dealing with our Lord addressing these disciples as the teachers that they are to be and the preachers the establishers of churches and so on and so forth I'm admitting that I can't prove it to you I'm simply presenting you the evidence as it seems to present itself to me that's seems to me to be the whole context and therefore I would interpret every particular statement in the light of this whole context and if that is so well then I would interpret this passage in chapter 15 about the branches being taken out of the tree and burned and destroyed in exactly the same way as we took 1 Corinthians 927 and the parallel in 1 Corinthians 3 if it simply refers to office and to function well then that is its meaning and indeed there is a word here in verse 6 in chapter 15 that seems to me to justify this to the hilt if a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch he doesn't just say that he's cast forth he's cast forth as a branch well what does the branch refer well the fruit bearing Branch you see he tells them that apart from him they can do nothing and I this is a reference surely to Ministry the whole picture is that of the branches as parts of the tree upon which they depend for everything bearing fruit and therefore that if they do not function truly well as branches which are meant to bear fruit they're useless they're Cast Away and they're burned in the fire he just works out as is his custom the full imagery even in details but it's the principle that matters so that I'm arguing that he's really interested here in Christians who are engaged in Ministry and in service primarily to about the apostles but it can be transferred also to all who are now engaged in a similar way so that looking at it in that manner we just use precisely the same form of interpretation as we did in those other passages but let's assume that you don't agree with it and that you take this as referring to the whole question of our personal salvation and therefore it seems much more directly to suggest the possibility of Falling Away From Grace that you can be saved and born again at one time but still end in hell and in Perdition having lost the eternal life which you once had and you go on to Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord now then let's see what we can do with it if we take it in that way and not in terms of service what is it teaching us well the first thing that it seems to do is this there are two classes of persons dealt with here and they're contrasted with with one another they all seem to be in the same position but they're not alike they're essentially different you take a first glance a superficial glance of them and they all appear to be identical but the whole point of the picture is to show that they're not that they differ essentially in their nature and that they therefore differ in their ultimate fate and in their ultimate end in other words I suggest to you that if you're taking this second General interpretation that what you're dealing with here is a statement addressed to the visible Church the visible Church in the visible church you've always got two lots of people but start you start by looking at them and they all appear to be identical let us take Westminster Chapel the church that meet here as an illustration all the members of Westminster Chapel at first seem to be exactly the same they've all got their names on the same church role all of them but nevertheless it is probably true to say of this church as of every other church that there are two types of people with their names on the same Row in other words they all seem to be branches of the vine and yet there is a vital difference you have to draw a distinction between the visible church and the invisible church now this is something that I'm not doing it it's the scripture itself that does it so repeatedly I'll give you other examples and illustrations in a moment so that it seems that he's saying therefore that though all these people seem to be the same there are nevertheless two divisions there are two divisions amongst them and they are very vital divisions there are those that bear fruit there are those that do not bear fruit now let me give you show you how this Exposition is Justified take for instance what um he tells us here in the third verse of this 15th chapter now he says ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you now he'd already said something very similar indeed if not identical in the 13th chapter in verse 10 let me read it to you John 13:10 this is the whole question you remember of Our Lord going round and washing the disciples feet and Peter gets into trouble Peter said unto him in verse 8 Thou shalt never wash my feet Jesus answered him if I wash thee not thou Hast no part with me Simon Peter said unto him Lord not my feet only but also my hands and my head Jesus said unto him here it is he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet but is clean every wi and ye are clean but not all now there it is the general statement but then the qualification ye are clean but not all for he knew who should betray him therefore said he ye are not all clean now this is the great famous case of course of Judas and it's very vital in this Exposition if anybody had taken a general glance at the 12 apostles he'd have said there they are the 12 apostles there's no difference they've all become followers of this same Master he he speaks of them as his disciples he has sent them out with the same commission Judas remember was included in all that he went out like the others to preach and to cast out devils and people would say there they are look at them all going out together the 12 disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ the 12 branches in the vine there they are but not all he knew from the beginning we've already been told at the end of chapter 6 that he knew this we are told it in so many places in this chapter of John Jesus answered them have not I chosen you 12 you see you 12 the apostolate the branches of the vine and one of you is a devil he spake of Judas is scariot the son of Simon for it was he that should betray him being one of the 12 very well and so here he puts it quite explicit it l over this question of washing in Chapter 13 and you notice the parallel in the phrase here it is in 153 now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you 13:10 Jesus said he that is washed he do not serve to wash his feet but is clean every wi now ye are clean but not all that's it you are all branches in the vine and yet you're not all branches it's an exact parallel it's an obvious continuation of precisely the same theme in other words what's he saying well what he's saying is this that our profession of Christianity as members of the church is something that is to be tested that the mere fact that we appear to be in the vine does not prove that we are in the vine now he's using a picture remember and it's a very dramatic picture and it brings out this principle but it must be realized always that it is a picture so he says the test he says of whether you really are true members of Christ is this that you bear fruit did you notice this he makes it quite plain and clear that the branches that are turn off and are burned have never borne any fruit at all listen I am the True Vine and my father is the husband every branch in me that beareth not fruit it's never borne any fruit at all he takes it away it appear to be a branch it proves that it isn't because if it were it would bear fruit it is only the branches that don't bear fruit that that are thrown away if a man abide not in me is cast forth as a branch and is withered and so on it's all this question of fruit bearing that's the context everywhere I am the vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit in other words it comes to this that if you are born of God born of the spirit if you are in Christ you will bear fruit but if you merely a church member who's never been born again you never will bear fruit and your end is destruction now let me give you the parallels to establish my point I've already read at the beginning tonight and did so with this intention what our Lord is reported as saying in The Sermon on the Mount at the end in chapter 7 of Matthew's gospel beginning to read at verse 15 here it is again beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing in other words you look at them there are two types of prophets there are true prophets that are false prophets yes but as you first look at them you say there's only one kind of prophet look at them they're all sheep they've all got wool on them they're all absolutely identical in sheep's clothing yes but what matters inward they are ravening woles you see the whole point they all appear to be sheep what matters is what they're like inside the branches all appear to be truly getting life out of that vine but they're not some are some are not then he says here's the test in Matthew 7:16 you shall know them by their fruit exactly what he says in John 15 but then you see he goes to work it out in great detail do men gather Grapes of thorns or figs of thistles the thing is impossible whatever the appearances may be it is the nature that tells you'll never find grapes on Thorns you'll never find figs on thistles whatever they may look like at first glance it's the nature that counts even so he says here's the thing every good tree bringeth forth good fruit it's a categorical statement it must do so it can't help doing so but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit now remember the whole matter he's taking is the appearance of the false prophet and the the argument is that it is the nature that matters and the nature shows itself in the fruit a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree however good it may look bring forth good fruit in other words a man who only a Christian in appearance never does bring forth good fruit he can't do it it's impossible if you're not in Christ you'll never bear spiritual fruit every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is he down and casted Into the Fire it's an exact parallel wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them and then still more explicitly in 21 to 23 not everyone that sets unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven There are many people who say Lord Lord no but it's he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity they looked like it there was nothing there there was no life and so they are to depart from him because they're workers of iniquity and lastly for me to complete this metaph for this evening I suggest to you that in a very wonderful way we have an exact parallel with John 151 to1 in Romans 11 our own epistle here beginning to read at verse 13 listen to this for I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles I magnify in office if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and might save some of them now then for if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiv receiving of them be but life from the dead I'm not interested in it from the standpoint of Prophecy at the moment but simply as illustrating this one point for if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy you see it's the lump that decides the fruit all along if the root be holy so are the branches this is the same principle John 15 Matthew 7 same everywhere and if some of the branches be broken off and thou being a wild Olive Tree W crafted in among them and with them partak of the root and fatness of the Olive Tree boast not thyself against the branches but if thou burst th bear thou bearest not the root but the root thee th will then the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith be not high-m minded but fear for if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee behold therefore the goodness and the severity of God Etc on them which fell severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise Thou shalt also be cut off and then they also if they abide not still in unbelief shall be grafted in for God is able to graft them in again for if thou were cut out of the Olive Tree which is Wild by nature and were graft contrary to Nature into a good Olive Tree how much more shall these which be the natural branches be grafted into their own Olive Tree what's it all mean well it's this the nation of Israel the children of Israel are this Olive Tree now I mean the whole nation the whole nation the whole nation of Israel is this good Olive Tree the other nations were the wild olive trees here is the tree that God has planted but you say doesn't he say there quite plainly that some individuals have been torn off thrown into the fire doesn't that mean that people who are saved once can be lost at the end no he's teaching really the exact opposite of that what he's saying is this look here look he says at that nation of Israel that's God's Olive Tree you look at them and you say there are the people of God God speaks to them like that but he says you bear this in mind this is his own phrase it isn't mine they are not all Israel that are of Israel all the children of Israel were not the true children of God they were regarded as such as a whole there is the good Olive Tree but they didn't all rarely belong these are the people who are Tor off and burned so he's saying this look here you Gentiles you've been admitted now into the Christian Church don't assume that because you've become members of the Christian church that you were therefore of necessity Christians if God casts out even the children of Israel who really didn't belong to Abraham well he'll certainly do the same thing with you that's all he's saying and nothing else in other words these members of the nation of Israel that were cast out had never been true children of God at all they belong to Israel they're not truly Israel they're not all of Israel in this sense who just belong to it in this external Manner and so he is warning these people not to presume upon this because they've been admitted into the church and the argument he puts is you see if God deals like that even with those who were as it were the natural members how much more will he do it with you simply being grafted in you wild olive trees that have been grafted into this par and trunk you see the thing that matters the trunk and the relationship to the trunk now this is a picture you see and if you just remember that it's a picture the thing becomes perfectly plain and perfectly simple in other words we come back to a verse that I quoted last Friday night John says in 1 John 2:19 they went out from us because they were not of us you see they've been in the church's members he says if they were truly of us no doubt they would have continued with us but they've gone out in order that it may be made manifest that they were not of us so you take this picture as a whole the church the visible Church the branches of the vine but the test is are we bearing fruit the branches that are thrown out and burned in the fire have never borne any fruit at all and that is because they've never been regenerated and therefore couldn't bear fruit they're like these Israelites that were not truly of Israel they're like the false prophets of the end of The Sermon on the Mount very well our time has gone again and we've got to leave it at that God willing we'll try to go on next Friday night to deal with some of the famous warning passages let us pray oh Lord Our God we come before thee once more and thank thee more than ever that we are what we are by thy Grace oh Lord we see how utterly hopeless we would be were our Salvation to depend in any part or portion of to any extent upon us oh God we thank thee for him who is himself the True Vine and apart from whom there is no life and apart from whom we can do nothing Lord receive our humble and unworthy praise that thou has ever Graft in into him and now May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit abide and continue with us now this night throughout the remainder of this our short and certain Earthly life and pilgrimage and until we shall be with him in the glory Everlasting amen we do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr Martin lyd Jones all of the sermons contained within the mlj trust audio library are now available for free download you may share the sermons or broadcast them however because of international copyright please be advised that we are asking first that these sermons never be offered for sale by a third party and second that these sermons will not be edited in any way for length or to use as audio clips you can find our contact information on our website at mlj trust.org that's mlj t.org." 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