Search
Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 24, 30; 3, 12:13b; Acts 9:14; Rom. 10:12; Isa. 55:1-2, 6, 10-11; Lam. 3:55-57
First Corinthians 1:2 tells us that the called saints are those who call upon the name of the Lord, and those who call upon the name of the Lord are the saints. The totality of these saints is the church. Therefore, our status and our position are that we are saints, those who call upon the name of the Lord. Paul says that Christ is “theirs and ours.” This means that Christ is the portion of all those who call upon His name. Then in verse 9 he says that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, that is, into the enjoyment of Christ. God has called us so that we may participate in the enjoyment of Christ, and the way to enjoy Christ is by calling upon His name.
Again I say that in reading the Bible our problem is that we often read our own concepts into the Bible. Therefore, it is very difficult for us to receive any revelations from the Bible. For example, normally we have some understanding of love. Therefore, when we read 1 Corinthians 13, it is easy for us to grasp what it says about love. Love is this or love is that. But when we read 1 Corinthians 1, it is difficult for us to see that we are the called saints and that we are those who should call upon the name of the Lord. We are called to call upon the name of the Lord. It is also difficult for us to see that Christ is theirs and ours. Furthermore, it is difficult for us to see that God has called us not that we may go to heaven but that we may enter into the fellowship of His Son.
God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. This is equivalent to God’s inviting us to a feast to enjoy His Son, as referred to in Matthew 22. This Christ is God’s wisdom and God’s power. God has made this Christ to be our righteousness for the past, our sanctification for the present, and our redemption for the future. In the past we were full of unrighteousness, and we were a mess, but Christ is our righteousness to deal with our past. Through His death on the cross He satisfied God’s righteous requirement and solved the problems of our past. As to the present we are very weak and have many failures, but Christ is our sanctification. Then in the future He will transfigure our body in order that we may be redeemed. In other words, He entered into our spirit, He is transforming our soul, and He will transfigure our body. He takes care of all three parts of our being: spirit, soul, and body. Such a Christ is our enjoyment. God has called us so that we may enjoy such a Christ.
Up to this point what we have covered is merely doctrine. It is as if I told you that we have a feast here that is truly rich and very good, but you have not as yet tasted a bit of it. Therefore, in 1 Corinthians, after the objective truths are presented in chapters 1 and 2, chapter 12 tells us how to experience such a Christ. First, it tells us that all the believers, whether Jews or Greeks, were baptized in one Spirit (v. 13). The rich Christ today is the Spirit. Like electricity, the Spirit is hard to describe; thus, God uses water to signify the Spirit. When we were baptized, we were put into the water; this signifies that we were put into the Spirit. Christ is the Spirit; when we were baptized into Christ, we were baptized in the Spirit. After we were baptized in the Spirit, we obtained the position to drink this Spirit. This verse in the original language means that we were put in the position to drink this Spirit. How do we drink this Spirit? Verse 3 of the same chapter says, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” In other words, once you say, “Lord Jesus!” immediately you are in the Holy Spirit, and you are drinking the Spirit.
There is one matter that is very important, yet it is not clear to many Christians. It concerns two things: the name of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord. The name of the Lord is Jesus, and the Spirit of the Lord is the Lord Himself, the person of the Lord. Everyone has a name, and every name denotes a person, who is the person himself. If there were no such person but only a name, then that name would equal nothing. Jesus is the name of the Lord, and the Spirit is the person of the Lord. When I call the Lord’s name, the Spirit comes. Brothers and sisters, do you think that the Lord Jesus is merely an empty name? The Lord Jesus is real; therefore, when you call, He comes, and the One who comes is the Spirit. Do not think that calling upon the name of the Lord is a small matter; you cannot call upon the name of the Lord Jesus without any result. When you call, “O Lord Jesus!” He comes.
The Bible tells us to pray, but in addition to praying, it also tells us to call upon the name of the Lord. When you say, “Lord Jesus,” the Spirit is here. The Spirit is the living Jesus; the Spirit is the realized Jesus; the Spirit is the Jesus who comes to you. When you call on the name of an idol, nothing happens because it has an empty name. No matter how much you call on Buddha, Buddha will not come. However, our Lord Jesus is the true and living God; He is the true and living Spirit. Christ as such a Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit. Do you need redemption? Redemption is in Him. Do you need power? Power is in Him. Do you need life? Life is in Him. Do you need holiness and patience? Holiness and patience are in Him. He can supply whatever you need.
We see that at the time of Pentecost the saints were those who called upon the Lord’s name. You remember that before Paul was saved, he went to Damascus to arrest the Lord’s disciples, and the Lord appeared to Ananias. Ananias did not report to the Lord that Saul had authority to bind all who believed and trusted in the Lord; rather, Ananias said that Saul had authority to bind all who called upon the Lord’s name. This tells us that there was something particular with those believers in the first century; that is, they all called upon the Lord’s name. They were the callers of the Lord’s name. A genuine Christian does not need to wear a mark. As long as we are those who call upon the Lord’s name, our neighbors and colleagues will know that we are believers. Therefore, when Saul went to Damascus, there was no need for him to investigate house after house, because the Christians were all callers of Jesus, and they were known as such. If you live in a place and you have not called on the Lord’s name to such an extent that all your neighbors know that you are a believer in Jesus, you are a defeated Christian.
According to Romans 10:12, to whom is the Lord rich? He is rich to all who call upon His name. When you call upon His name, you enjoy His riches. Why? Because when you call upon the Lord, the Spirit comes. The Spirit is rich and bountiful; when you are in spirit, you enjoy His riches.
Isaiah 55:1 says, “Come to the waters.” This water is the Lord Himself; the Lord is the living water. All those who thirst may come and drink, without money and without price. Then Isaiah said, “Seek Jehovah while He may be found; / Call upon Him while He is near” (v. 6). How do we seek the Lord? It is by calling upon Him. Also when we call and pray, we use not only our words but also the words of God. Isaiah said, “Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, / And let your soul delight itself in fatness” (v. 2b). Therefore, besides calling upon the Lord’s name, we also need to pray-read the Lord’s word. The Lord Himself is in His word. His word is the rain and the snow that do not return to heaven in vain but water the earth that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. We have seeds for sowing and bread for feeding ourselves and others. This is the result of eating the Lord.
Jeremiah’s word in Lamentations 3 is very precious. He says, “I called upon Your name, O Jehovah, / From the lowest pit” (v. 55). When he was in a low pit, in an abased condition, in difficulty, under oppression, he called upon the name of the Lord. Then he says, “Do not hide / Your ear at my breathing” (v. 56). Our calling before the Lord is a spiritual breathing, even a deep breathing. A certain medical doctor in the United States Air Force found out through experiments that the most beneficial practice to human health is deep breathing. If we practice deep breathing every day, our body will be healthy. It is the same spiritually. Deep breathing in our spirit makes us strong, burning, and beside ourselves.
Our calling on the Lord is our breathing the Lord. However, our breathing includes drinking, and our drinking includes eating. When you call upon the Lord, at first it is like breathing. Then after you breathe for a while, you feel that there is living water in you springing up; thus, you drink the living water. As you continue to call, you also eat and are satisfied.
Hallelujah! The Lord has given us such a simple and direct way, that is, to call upon His name and to pray-read His word. In this way we enjoy all that the Lord is. I hope that all of us will really practice this.
