Discipleship: Why Your Fruit Must Remain After You

Introduction

Invited to ICC Montreal, Pastor Peggy N'NAH NDONG asked a question that cuts short any talk about the Christian's "hard life": if you are sitting in this church today, connected to this ministry, formed by spiritual fathers, that is not a coincidence. You are the fruit of a disciple. Someone, before you, paid the price so that you could be here.

Her message rests on a single verse, John 15:16: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain." The whole sermon hinges on something most Christians forget: Jesus did not say "bear fruit." He said "fruit that remains." That is not the same thing.

Pastor Peggy warns from the outset: discipleship is not a burden the church places on you to wear you out. It is a privilege. And if you do not see it as a privilege, you will never live it as a better life. Here is what she shared, in the order she shared it.

Outline of the Sermon

1. Discipleship, a privilege you did not earn

Pastor Peggy insists on the order of Jesus' words: "You did not choose me, but I chose you." In other words, calm down. Do not be proud. You did nothing that qualified you. You were caught in lies, adultery, pornography, in complicated things, and the grace of God came down on you the way it came down on Mary.

She tells her own story: arriving at ICC in 2002, connected for twenty four years to her spiritual fathers, Apostle Yvan Castanou, Apostle Yves, Mama Maude, Mama Adri. She says she does not see this as the fruit of anything she planted, but as grace. "Nobody deserves this." Discipleship begins there: in the awareness that God looked at you when nothing in you positioned you for it.

If you understand that it is a privilege, you stop complaining about what God asks of you. If you do not understand it, you will spend your life believing your Christian life is a problem. Pastor Peggy answers directly those who write books like "Christian but Depressed": no, that does not exist. What exists is a Christian who has not yet understood that they are living the best life.

2. The disciple is protected, not because he fears God, but because he is a disciple

Pastor Peggy takes up a verse often misquoted: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them" (Psalm 34:7). Many Christians pray it while forgetting the second half. They want the deliverance, but they do not enter into the fear of the Lord.

And she goes further: those who fear God, in the Bible, are the disciples. They are not the Sunday attendees warming a seat. They are those who have agreed to walk in the values, the vision, and the word of their master. That is why Jesus says, "I appointed you that..." He did not appoint you to stay seated. He appointed you to go, to bear fruit, and for that fruit to remain.

She reminds us that the best life does not mean zero tribulation. The Bible speaks of tribulations. Without them, you would have no reason to pray. But the best life is this ability, in the middle of hardship, to take refuge in the presence of God and find there a joy the world does not have.

3. Fruit that remains, or no fruit at all

Pastor Peggy dwells on the word "remains." What is the fruit of Jesus that has remained today, two thousand years later? It is not the crowds he fed. It is not the miracles he performed. It is his disciples. Jesus' disciples carried his work forward, and it is because they carried it forward that you and I are reading his word today.

From this she draws a strict but clear rule: whatever you do not pass on ends up dying. Whatever you do not pass on ends up buried. Whatever you do not pass on ends up disappearing. She takes the example of Elisha, who left behind only a false disciple, Gehazi, and whose anointing was not passed on the way it should have been.

She also takes the example of Michael Jackson: someone who has been dead for years, yet whose influence continues to shape generations, through a film that just came out. The question she asks without hesitation: who is going to dominate the world? The disciples of Christ, or the disciples of Satan? Because it is a matter of disciples. You see it by the fruit.

4. Abraham: God chooses in order to carry forward

Pastor Peggy then turns to Genesis 18:19, where God himself states why he chose Abraham: "For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him."

From this she draws a conclusion that puts things in order: the promises of God are not fulfilled in a vacuum. They are fulfilled because a man, a woman, decides to pass something on to the coming generation. Without transmission, the promises die with you. With transmission, they run from generation to generation, like the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In other words, discipleship is not something Apostle Yvan Castanou invented, nor a church method. It is God's plan since Abraham. And if you are in a church where you are taught to make disciples, you are walking in something far greater than your own small personal life.

5. The quality of your disciples determines your level of influence

Toward the end, Pastor Peggy shares something she says she received at the very moment she was preaching: the kind of disciples who come out of your life will determine the level to which God can take you.

Fruit reveals two things: a nature, and a maturity. Wherever God wants to position you, you will not be able to function alone. You will need faithful men and women, honest people, who will make sure that what God places in your hands does not collapse. She testifies: "If I can do today what I do, it is because, by the grace of God, I have raised up disciples who support me, who relieve me, who fill in for me."

Her prayer for you: that God would grant you to be a good disciple to your spiritual fathers, so that you in turn raise up good disciples, and that when God positions you higher, it will be with them that you rise.

6. The invitation: start by giving your life to Christ

The sermon closes with an invitation. Pastor Peggy reminds us of something simple: the greatest miracle is not a paralyzed man walking again, it is not even a dead person rising. The greatest miracle is a heart that returns to God. That is why there is joy in heaven when a single soul returns to the Father (Luke 15:10).

She prays with two young women who have just raised their hands, and invites the church not to leave them alone afterward. Because without follow up, without discipleship, that decisive choice remains just an emotion. With discipleship, it becomes a destiny.

Key Takeaways

• Discipleship is a privilege, not a burden: God chose you when nothing in you qualified you (John 15:16).
• Jesus did not say "bear fruit," he said "fruit that remains." The difference is transmission.
• Whatever you do not pass on ends up dying, being buried, disappearing.
• Abraham was chosen not for himself, but to "command his household after him" (Genesis 18:19). Discipleship has been God's plan since Genesis.
• The quality of the disciples who come out of your life will determine the level to which God can position you.

Personal Application

1. Do you live your commitment to Christ as a privilege, or as a weight the church places on your shoulders?
2. Name one specific person whose spiritual fruit you are today. Have you taken the time to thank them, and to thank God for them?
3. Who are you discipling right now? If no one comes to mind, what is holding you back?
4. Look at your Christian life: what fruit would remain of you if you left tomorrow? Fruit that remains, or only memories?
5. In what area (family, work, church, neighborhood) is God asking you to command "your household after you" to keep his way, as Abraham did?

Verses Cited

• John 15:16 - "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain."
• Genesis 18:19 - "For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord."
• Psalm 34:7 - "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."
• Proverbs 13:22 - "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children."
• Luke 15:10 - "There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

FAQ

Is discipleship just for pastors?

No. Pastor Peggy makes it clear: discipleship happens at every level. Within the church, but also within your family, your work, your nation. The question to ask yourself is: what mark are you going to leave, and will people want to pass it on after you?

Why does John 15:16 emphasize "fruit that remains" rather than "much fruit"?

Because much fruit that does not remain amounts to not having borne fruit at all. What is not passed on dies with you. The word "remains" reorients everything: God is not looking for one time exploits, he is looking for a work that carries across generations, like the covenant with Abraham.

How can I tell that I am really a disciple, and not just an attendee who shows up?

Pastor Peggy offers a simple criterion: God's protection (Psalm 34:7) and answered prayer (John 15:16: "so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you") are tied to discipleship. If you are living in chronic frustration, if your prayers go unanswered for years, the question to ask is not "why has God abandoned me," but "am I walking in the discipleship he expects of me."