约十五16 不是你们拣选了我，乃是我拣选了你们，并且立了你们，要你们前去，并要你们结果子，且要你们的果子常存…。

　　徒一8 但圣灵降临在你们身上，你们就必得着能力，并要在耶路撒冷、犹太全地、撒玛利亚，直到地极，作我的见证人。

　　John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you.

　　Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

　　多年留在不生育的情形里，你高兴么？彼得后书指出，我们可能闲懒不结果子，不生育（一8）。假如主明天早晨回来，那么照着祂在马太二十五章的话，你必须向祂交账说，你作了什么。你要告诉祂什么？你会告诉祂，你在你当地有好的召会生活，祂赐给你的一切都还在这里么？你会告诉祂，祂是一个忍心的人，没有撒种的地方要收割，没有簸散的地方要收聚么？主会说什么？主会说，“好，良善又忠信的奴仆，…进来享受你主人的快乐”么？（23。）或者祂会说，你是又恶又懒的奴仆？（26。）按照二十五章，祂会把你摆在哪里？不要忘记，被扔在外面黑暗里的，乃是接受了真实的恩赐，一他连得的人；这人不仅是得救的，也是有恩赐的。主是真的，祂真的要回来，并且祂在二十五章所说的话将要应验。这是严肃且郑重的事。

　　Are you happy to remain in a barren situation for years? Second Peter indicates that it is possible for us to be idle and unfruitful, barren (1:8). Suppose tomorrow morning the Lord comes back. Then according to His word in Matthew 25, you will have to give Him an account of what you have been doing. What will you tell Him? Will you tell Him that you have had a good church life in your locality, that whatever He has given you is still here? Will you tell Him that He is a hard man, reaping where He did not sow and gathering where He did not scatter? What would the Lord say? Would the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful slave. enter into the joy of your lord" (25:23)? Or would He call you an evil and slothful slave (25:26)? According to Matthew 25, where will He put you? Do not forget that the one who is put into outer darkness is the one who has received the real gift, one talent. This one is not only saved but also gifted. The Lord is real, He will really come back, and His word spoken in Matthew 25 will be fulfilled. This is a serious and solemn matter.

　　约翰十五章十六节说，“不是你们拣选了我，乃是我拣选了你们，并且立了你们，要你们前去，并要你们结果子，且要你们的果子常存。”在这一节里有一些字汇相当重要。第一个字是“立”；不是我们拣选自己，乃是祂拣选了我们。在作基督这葡萄树的枝子这事上，我们没有选择，因为祂抓住了我们。祂拣选我们，并立我们去结果子。结果子是主立的，是祂指定的。祂没有指定我们作别的事，祂指定我们结果子。主吩咐我们前去结果子。枝子能去么？自然界中树上的枝子不能去。但我们不仅是活的枝子，也是能移动的枝子；我们必须去，这指明我们必须去到人那里。

　　主说我们应该前去结果子，并且我们的果子应该常存。…主给我们看见果子常存的路。我们不仅到人那里，叩他们的门，也借着他们的相信和受浸，将他们带进三一神里。在这之后，我们立即在他们家中设立家聚会。设立家聚会就是设立遮避处，保护这个新生婴儿。像农夫在果园里保护水果：桃子熟了，刚被摘下来，需要遮盖；否则，鸟也许会来吃。这遮盖帮助果子存留。同样的，在受浸的人家中设立聚会乃是设立遮避处。然后在这遮避处底下，你定期回去喂养他们。这样他们当然会得着保护，得着喂养，并且会常存。这就是得着常存果子的秘诀（迫切并专一为福音而活，三八至三九、四九至五○页）。

　　John 15:16 says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I appointed you that you should go forth and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain." In this verse there are some words which are quite crucial. The first word is "appointed." We did not choose ourselves, but He chose us. We have no choice in the matter of being a branch of Christ, the vine, because He caught us. He chose us and appointed us to bear fruit. To bear fruit is the Lord's appointment, His assignment. He did not assign us to do anything else. He appointed us to bear fruit. The Lord charged us to go forth and bear fruit. Can a branch go? The branches of a physical tree do not go. But we are not only living branches, but also movable branches. We have to go. This indicates that we have to reach people.

　　The Lord says that we should go forth and bear fruit and that our fruit should remain. In the past we took the wrong way. Occasionally people came to us and they believed and were baptized, but they did not remain because nobody took care of them. This is like a mother delivering a child, and then leaving her newborn baby without any care. How could she expect this baby to remain? The Lord has shown us the way for our fruit to remain. We do not just go out to reach people by knocking on their doors and bringing them into the Triune God through their believing and baptism. After this, we immediately set up a home meeting in their home. To set up a home meeting is to set up a shelter to protect this new babe. The farmers protect the fruit in their orchard. Peaches that are ripe and have just been picked need to be covered. Otherwise, the birds may eat them. This covering helps the fruit to remain. Likewise, to set up a meeting in a baptized one's home is to set up a shelter. Then under the shelter you go back to them regularly to feed them. Surely they will be protected, they will be fed, and they will remain. This is the secret of having remaining fruit.