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I. Christ is the portion of all those who call upon His name — 1 Cor. 1:2.
II. God has called us so that we may partake of Christ — v. 9.
III. To those who have been called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God — v. 24.
IV. God has put us in Christ and has made Christ wisdom to us: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption — v. 30.
V. Christ is also ten additional items:
А. The foundation — 3:11.
B. The Passover — 5:7.
C. The spiritual food, drink, and rock — 10:3-4.
D. The Head — 11:3.
E. The Body — 12:12.
F. The firstfruits — 15:20, 23.
G. The last Adam — v. 45.
H. The second man — v. 47.
VI. Christ became a life-giving Spirit — v. 45.
VII. We have two statuses:
А. We have been joined to the Spirit to be one spirit — 6:17.
B. We have been baptized into one Body and have been given to drink one Spirit — 12:13.
VIII. We drink the Lord by calling on Him — v. 3.
IX. We live by the Lord by living in our spirit — 2:14-15.
In this chapter we will fellowship concerning the way to enjoy Christ. We do not care for methods, but we do have a certain way to enjoy Christ. We should forsake all methods, but we should also walk on a way. Where can we see the way to enjoy Christ? We can find it in 1 Corinthians. First Corinthians shows us that the way to enjoy Christ is in our spirit. How can we enjoy Christ in our spirit? Let us consider this matter step by step.
First Corinthians 1:2 says that Christ is “theirs and ours.” This phrase is very precious. Christ belongs to us all! Christ belongs to the brothers, and Christ belongs also to the sisters. Christ belongs to the elderly saints, and Christ belongs also to the young people. Christ belongs to the strong ones, and Christ belongs also to the weak ones. This verse tells us that Christ belongs to all those who call upon His name. The Greek word for call upon means “to call out audibly, even loudly.” For example, when a house is on fire, we call out, “Fire! Fire!” We do not simply shout; we call out for help.
Someone once said to me, “Brother Lee, the Lord is not so deaf that He cannot hear our voice. Why do we need to cry and shout? I do not think that we need to do this.” Perhaps there are others who think this as well. I am not here to subdue you, but I must tell you the truth. Consider your experience from the day that you were saved until now. Have you ever called upon the name of the Lord? I can confidently say that you have. Every Christian has called on the Lord. A few days ago I heard a testimony given by a sister. Not long after she was saved, she was hit by a car and was in great pain. No one had ever taught her to call on the Lord; nevertheless, she called, “O Lord! O Lord!” After she had called on the Lord a few times, miraculously her pain went away. You may say that you have never called upon the name of the Lord — you even may be hard-hearted, but the Lord still has a way to deal with you, and when He does, you will call louder than everyone else. To whom does Christ belong? Christ belongs to those who call upon His name! When you call on the Lord, He becomes your portion.
God has given us Jesus Christ as our portion. He has also called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ (v. 9). For us to be called into His fellowship is for us to be called into His enjoyment. God has not called us to go to heaven; He has called us to enter into His enjoyment, His fellowship. Thus, every day we should enjoy the Lord, live in fellowship with the Lord, and take the Lord as our portion.
In addition to being our portion, the Lord is also the power of God and the wisdom of God (v. 24). To accomplish anything, we need power and wisdom. For instance, suppose we want to establish a large corporation. To do so, we must have sufficient funds as capital. Our capital is our power. However, if we have sufficient funds but lack the intelligence to manage a company, we will not be able to accomplish anything. Our capital is our power, and our intelligence is our wisdom. If we have both, surely our corporation will prosper. The “capital” of the large “corporation” of God is simply Christ Himself, and the way, or wisdom, that God uses to manage this large corporation is also Christ Himself. Christ is power and Christ is wisdom.
As Christians we are in Christ. Who put us in Christ? God put us in Christ. God put us in Christ, and God wants Christ to become wisdom to us. Christ becomes wisdom to us as righteousness for our past, as sanctification for our present, and as redemption for our future (v. 30). As our righteousness the Lord covers all our shameful past, as our sanctification the Lord enables us to live a sanctified life in the present, and as our redemption the Lord will redeem and transfigure our body in the future. This is the way that the Lord becomes wisdom to us.
Thus, we see that Christ is five major items: power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In addition to these five major items Christ is another ten major items: the foundation (3:11), the Passover (5:7), our spiritual food, drink, and rock (10:3-4), the Head (11:3), the Body (12:12), the firstfruits (15:20, 23), the last Adam (v. 45), and the second man (v. 47). In other words, Christ is the first, the second, and the last. Hence, Christ is everything, Christ is all things, and there is nothing that is outside of Christ. All the grace of God is in Christ, and Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe.
Praise the Lord that the all-inclusive Christ, who is so full, has become the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit who gives life (v. 45b; 2 Cor. 3:6b). This Christ has become the Spirit, and as the Spirit He is power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. As the Spirit He is also the foundation, the Passover, our spiritual food, drink, and rock, the Head, the Body, the first, the second, and the last. Everything is included in the Spirit, for the Spirit is all-inclusive.
Where is the Spirit today? He is in our spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” In addition, we all have been baptized into the Spirit. On the day that we called upon His name and were saved, we were baptized into the Spirit. Since we all have been baptized, let us now drink of this Spirit (12:13).
How do we drink of the Spirit? It is very easy — we simply call on the Lord. First Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” In other words, if we simply say, “Lord Jesus,” we will be in the Holy Spirit and will also drink of this Spirit.
How do we let air into our room? It is very easy — we simply open a window. Suppose we shut all the doors and windows and then kneel down to pray, “Lord! Please give us fresh air! We want fresh air to come in!” No matter how much we pray this, the Lord will not answer our prayer. If we want fresh air, we must open a window. Similarly, we are already in the Lord, so if we want to drink of the Lord, the way to do so is to open our “window.” What is our window? Our window is our mouth. We simply need to open our mouth and call on the Lord from our spirit, calling, “O Lord Jesus! Jesus is Lord!” When we do this, we will genuinely be in our spirit and will genuinely drink the Lord.
I am afraid that some of you who love the Lord and have intimate fellowship with the Lord have never called on the Lord like this. If you have not, you should try it. Sisters, when your children disobey you, the best thing to do is to say, “Jesus is Lord.” After you say “Jesus is Lord” five times, see if your children are still misbehaving. Brothers, when your wife is nagging you, do not argue with her. The more you argue, the more she will nag. The more you reason with her, the more she will justify herself. You can never clear up such a situation by reasoning. Therefore, when your wife is bothering you, simply say, “Jesus is Lord!” Sisters, when your husband loses his temper, do not argue with him. Simply declare, “Jesus is Lord!” A certain brother in the United States has been helped greatly by calling on the Lord’s name. Whenever his wife loses her temper, he simply declares, “Jesus is Lord!” After he declares this a few times, his wife calms down and says, “Amen.” Their children, seeing the testimony of their parents, follow with, “Hallelujah!” Then the whole family is happy. This is truly wonderful.
We should not think that tempers come from bad dispositions. Actually, tempers come from little demons. When people lose their temper, they are “possessed” by demons. What can cast out the demons? Only the mighty name of the Lord Jesus can cast out the demons. For instance, suppose your wife loses her temper, becomes irrational, and the demons prevail. Do not argue with her. You must declare, “Jesus is Lord.” After such a declaration, the demons will run away in fear, and your wife will be released.
When young sisters have to walk in dark alleys or isolated areas, they may feel frightened. However, they do not need to be afraid. They should simply declare, “Jesus is Lord!” When they declare this, who are they declaring it to? They are declaring this to the demons and the evil spirits in the air! We should declare “Jesus is Lord” in every place. Some cannot sleep at night, so they count sheep. However, most of the time this does not work. The best cure for insomnia is to declare “Jesus is Lord” and to keep on declaring this. You will not need to declare this too many times, for soon you will fall asleep. Then you will sleep soundly until the morning.
Brothers and sisters, do not think that I am speaking nonsense. Please try declaring the Lord’s name. If you cannot overcome your temper, simply declare, “Jesus is Lord.” Whenever you are faced with something that you cannot overcome, simply declare, “Jesus is Lord.” The name of Jesus is above every name, and in the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11). Since this is the case, there is no reason that we should not take the lead to declare His name.
Recently, some of the brothers and sisters in San Francisco have been greatly blessed. When they go to work in the morning, they wear gospel robes, and while driving to work, they shout, “Jesus is Lord!” Some of the saints who are students also wear gospel robes to school. They walk around the campus wearing gospel robes, they eat in the cafeteria wearing gospel robes, and they come home wearing gospel robes. In addition, when they see each other, they shout, “Jesus is Lord!” This is wonderful!
Brothers and sisters, we cannot be dumb Christians. We must call on the name of the Lord. Calling on the Lord’s name is the way to drink the Lord and to enjoy the Lord. We all should try calling on the name of the Lord. The more we call, the more we will have the presence of the Lord. Suppose that when we come together to meet, we all come with our Bibles tucked under our arms, and we all keep quiet and sit silently in our seats. What sort of meetings would we have? Suppose, however, that we all shout, “O Lord! Jesus is Lord!” as we enter the meeting hall. If we do this, the meetings will be enlivened, and the Spirit will flow.
May the Lord have mercy on us and cause us to see that our Lord is not a religion, a doctrine, a teaching, or a ritual. May we all see that He is the living Spirit, and that today He is in our spirit. We must also see the way to enjoy Him. How do we do this? We enjoy Him by calling on His name. When we call on His name, we touch Him, we are released, and we are supplied.
We must all call on the name of the Lord, but we must not forget that in addition to calling on the Lord and enjoying the Lord, we also need to walk in the spirit every day. Each of us needs to be a spiritual man (1 Cor. 2:15). What kind of person is a spiritual man? He is a person who lives in the spirit. When we wake up in the morning, we may be busy, and we may not have the opportunity to kneel down and have a time with the Lord. However, when we are washing our face or making our bed, we can call, “O Lord Jesus! Amen! O Lord! Jesus is Lord!” In addition, if we memorize a verse or two, we can pray-read while we are doing our chores. In this way we will be able to enjoy the Lord even if we do not have much time. Because we have enjoyed the Lord, we will then be able to walk according to Him in our daily living. We will not follow our will, our emotion, our logic, or the outward circumstances. We will simply follow the Lord whom we enjoy. The Lord is the Spirit, and He is in our spirit. When we walk according to Him, we will have a spiritual living, and we will experience Christ in a practical way. Then when we come to the meetings and shout, “O Lord,” this will not be merely a performance. Our meetings and our living will have been blended together, and the two will be one.
