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Scripture Reading: Exo. 12:4, 7-8; 16:16; 1 Cor. 1:2; 3:2a, 6, 9, 12a; 5:7b-8a; 12:13, 3b; 15:45b
In this chapter we want to see the enjoyment of Christ in 1 Corinthians. This book has been used by many different Christian groups and even by many great Christian teachers. The Brethren used this book very much for their doctrine, and the Pentecostal brothers have used this book very much for their gifts. The Brethren put out at least a few expositions on this book. They pointed out that in this book there are more than ten problems solved by different doctrines, such as the doctrine of head covering, the doctrine of resurrection, and so forth. They also spoke concerning the doctrine of the way Christians should meet in chapter 14. The Pentecostal brothers used this book very much for their gifts. They mostly used chapters 12 and 14, quoting verses from these two chapters for their exercise of the gifts.
But 1 Corinthians 8:1 says that knowledge does not build up but puffs up. Knowledge damages the building. The Corinthians got the knowledge and they had the gifts, but they were still babes (3:1). The gifts did not help them to grow. Regardless of how many gifts they exercised, they were still babes. They were not merely childish but babyish. We are burdened today to show the Lord’s children the real way for the recovery of the building up of the Lord’s church. It is absolutely not with doctrines or with the gifts.
We need to read the pure Word and not care for the religious and cultural traditions we received from the past. We have been under the covering of human culture and religion. These two things are strong veils that prevent us from seeing. The Lord’s Word is here to take away our veils. We need to see that 1 Corinthians belittles knowledge. Knowledge does not build up. It only helps you to be proud. Thus, we have to drop the doctrinal knowledge, which does not build up but puffs up. The Corinthians had many gifts, but they were still babyish and even carnal, fleshly. This shows that 1 Corinthians is surely not for doctrines or for gifts.
Now we need to consider what this book is for. All the verses referred to in the Scripture Reading of this chapter are marvelous. But nearly all these verses have been missed or neglected in Christianity. Many of us have read 1 Corinthians, but have we ever paid attention to verse 2 of chapter 1 as the opening word of this book? The Bible has sixty-six books, and each book opens with a special word. For instance, Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” John opens in this way: “In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God” (1:1). Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David and the son of Abraham (1:1). Paul wrote fourteen books, and each of his books also opens with a special word. That special word indicates the real content of the book.
In the opening word of 1 Corinthians Paul says, “To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours” (1:2). Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and then to everyone in every place who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This Christ is both theirs and ours. Christ is ours. He is our enjoyment, our portion, so we have to call upon Him. To call upon Him is to eat Him.
In the previous chapter we saw how to enjoy the Lord from the Gospel of John. The Lord Jesus is nothing less than God Himself. But He is not the “raw” God, the unprocessed God. At one time God was far away from any creature. But one day God came into a virgin and was born out of her. By this He became a man. Is this not a process? The infinite God came into humanity. He picked up humanity and put on humanity. After His birth He was processed through human living for thirty-three and a half years. He passed through many trials, tests, temptations, sufferings, and much poverty. Surely this is a process. Then He was betrayed, judged, and crucified. He was buried and came out of death into resurrection. Surely this is also a process. According to Exodus 12, the lamb for the passover could not be eaten raw. It had to be roasted with fire (v. 8). That is a process. Christ was really put into a kind of oven. There He was burned; He was processed to be our food, our life supply.
Throughout the centuries the Lord has been recovering things, and He is still recovering something from His holy Word today. In these days the Lord has recovered from His Word the matter of eating, and He has richly recovered all the things concerning Him as our food. To be our food He needed to be processed, and He was. Jesus today is no longer the “raw” God. Today He is the processed God good for food. He has been processed to also be our spiritual drink and spiritual air. We have seen this clearly in the Gospel of John. The way to enjoy Christ is to drink Him, to eat Him, and to breathe Him.
The Bible is so meaningful. God did not give us one book of the Bible with the complete revelation. The truths are scattered throughout the Bible. The Bible is like a puzzle with many small pieces. We have to put these pieces together to see something. God put something in John, something in Matthew, something in 1 Corinthians, something in Romans, something in Ephesians, and something in Revelation. If you have the divine way to put the pieces of the puzzle together, piece by piece, from the different books of the Bible, you will see a wonderful picture.
John tells us that Christ is God Himself to be our enjoyment. For our enjoyment He was processed, and now He is ready for us to take. To take Him is to eat Him, to drink Him, and to breathe Him. But still John does not tell us adequately how to breathe. John would say, “I tell you only that Christ is the processed God for your enjoyment, and to enjoy Him is to drink Him, eat Him, and breathe Him. If you want to know how to breathe Him, you have to go to another brother. Brother Paul will tell you.” Now we come to Brother Paul. Brother Paul would say, “If you are going to eat, drink, and breathe, you have to call, ‘O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!’” This is why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to the calling people, to those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the whole Bible there is not another book that opens like 1 Corinthians. This book was written to all who, in every place, call upon Christ, who is both theirs and ours. Christ is our portion. He is yours and mine. We can enjoy Christ as our portion by calling on His name. To call on Him is the unique way to enjoy Him.
In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says, “I have fed you...” (v. 2, KJV). The way to receive his feeding is to eat. Thus, calling is in chapter 1, but eating is in chapter 3. Then in chapter 3 we see that we have to grow. Paul says that he fed the saints. Then he says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth” (v. 6). By feeding and by eating we have the growth, and the growth is for the building. Verse 9 says, “You are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.” The growth in life issues in the transformation in life into precious materials. First, you are plants, but eventually you become gold, silver, and precious stones (v. 12).
Petrified wood is a good illustration of a plant being transformed into stone. It was a plant first. But eventually it became a piece of stone, petrified, transformed. The precious stones are for the building (1 Pet. 2:5). This is the only way that the Lord can build the church. If we mean business with the Lord’s recovery for the building up of the church, we have to realize that we are the plants and we have to grow. We can grow by taking in and absorbing the nourishment. By this growth we will be transformed, and by being transformed, we become the materials for the building.
First Corinthians 5 tells us that Christ is our Passover (v. 7). He is the Passover lamb. When those in Christianity use the passover lamb for gospel preaching, they always stress the blood. We have a good hymn, the chorus of which says, “When I see the blood,...I will pass over you” (Hymns, #1005). But we need to see that with the passover lamb there is something in addition to the blood. That is the meat. The blood had to be shed, and the meat of the lamb had to be eaten. The striking of the blood was for the eating of the meat. They applied the blood to the house, and then in the house they ate. The striking of the blood was not the goal; the eating of the meat was. Christ is the real Passover lamb, and He has been sacrificed for us, not only to redeem us but also to satisfy us. His blood redeemed us, and His life satisfies us.
The Israelites were under the tyranny, the bondage, of the Egyptians. The blood that covered them only dealt with God’s judgment. God saw the blood and passed over them. But they needed the energy, the strength, to walk out of Egypt and cross the Red Sea. So under the covering of the blood, they ate the lamb. They ate in a way ready to walk out. They ate quickly with their loins girded, with shoes on their feet, and with a staff in their hand (Exo. 12:11). They were filled up with the lamb. Then after eating they said, “Rise up. Let us all go out!” They all walked out of Egypt and walked through the Red Sea. The blood covers and redeems us, but it does not strengthen us. We need Jesus to be our meat. We need to eat Jesus. We can receive Jesus into us as our meat by calling on Him. The calling is the eating.
First Corinthians 5:8 goes on to say, “Let us keep the feast.” We are not keeping the good teachings of the passover. We are keeping the feast. A feast is full of the enjoyment of eating. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread as the continuation of the passover, the Israelites did nothing but eat. They cared only for eating for seven days. Today we are feasting on Jesus, and the way to feast on Him is to call, “O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus.”
All the real Christians are, at least to some extent, callers on Jesus. Some may still oppose this calling, but sometimes they have called also. They will not call on the Lord Jesus in a regular way but in a special way. When they have a car accident or they are sick, they will call, “O Lord Jesus!” In the Far East a brother, who opposed calling very much, was riding a bicycle. At the corner a car hit his bicycle and knocked him into the air. When he was in the air, he called, “O Lord Jesus!” When he fell on the ground, he would not stop calling. When he was in the hospital lying in bed, he called, “O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus.” He called on the Lord all day.
We should not call on the Lord, however, only in such special circumstances. We must call on Him all the time. Calling is the way to eat Jesus. Do not wait until you are sick and then start to eat. That is too late. You have to eat regularly. You may think that since you are a distinguished person, such as a professor or a father of a family, calling on the Lord is too childish for you. It is so good for your children to call, “O Lord Jesus,” but you feel that you have to maintain your position. You may keep your position, but you will be hungry with nothing to eat. Instead, you have to take the lead in your family to call, “O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus.” Calling on the Lord gives you the top enjoyment. Some dissenting ones have said that calling is altogether a matter of psychology. But if you call on the name of Confucius, Plato, George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln, nothing happens. However, we can testify that when we call on the dear name of Jesus, He is truly rich to all who call upon His name (Rom. 10:12). The more you call, the more you get.
First Corinthians 12 speaks of drinking the Spirit (v. 13). This requires us to call on the Lord continually and draw water with joy from Him as the fountain of living water (Isa. 12:3-4; John 4:10, 14). I do not care for the gifts. I care for the drinking of Jesus as the Spirit. We all have been given to drink one Spirit. Many people pay attention to baptism, but we need to notice that in 1 Corinthians 12:13 both baptism and drinking are covered: “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.”
To be baptized is to be put into the water. To drink is to put the water into you. Do you have to be immersed in water all day? If I immersed you in water for the whole day, you would drown. But to drink is a continual matter. We drink many times throughout the day. We all have been baptized in the Spirit. That is one aspect. Another aspect is our being given to drink one Spirit. That means we are positioned to drink. Although we have been positioned, many of us would not drink. Instead, we are thinking, not drinking.
First Corinthians 12:3 says that no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit. This means that whenever you say, “O Lord Jesus,” you are in the Holy Spirit, and you are drinking. The way to drink Jesus is to call on Him. First Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” You were given to drink one Spirit, and the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit in 15:45b is surely the one Spirit in 12:13. We were given to drink of Jesus as the life-giving Spirit. Thus, we all have to be Jesus callers, and His callers are His eaters, His drinkers, and His breathers.
We have to call on the Lord all day, every day, every moment, and on every occasion. When you are washing your face, you have to say, “O Lord Jesus.” When you are driving a car, you have to say, “O Lord Jesus.” All day you have to call on Him. By calling on Him, you breathe Him, drink Him, and eat Him. Then you get the enjoyment and the nourishment, which causes you to grow and be transformed. In this way you will grow as plants to be transformed into precious material to build up the church. This is the way to have the Lord’s recovery to build up the church. I hope this is not a mere teaching. We all have to see this. This concept is not only in the Gospels but also in the Epistles. We have such a wonderful way to enjoy Jesus for God’s building.
