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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:10-13
In the first message of this Life-study we pointed out that, after presenting a wonderful sketch of the Christian life, the church life, and the Body life in Romans, Paul gives us an illustration in 1 Corinthians of the actual Christian life, church life, and Body life. However, we should not understand this to mean that what we have in 1 Corinthians is an illustration of the proper or normal Christian life, church life, and Body life. Concerning these three kinds of lives, this Epistle illustrates what is actual or typical, not what is normal or proper. Thus, we should never make the mistake of saying that in 1 Corinthians we have the proper church life. What we see concerning the practice of the church life in this Epistle is neither proper nor normal. Rather, it is usual or typical.
In 1:1-9 Paul impresses us with the fact that in God’s economy Christ is the unique center. God’s intention is to make Christ His Son the center of His economy and also to make Him everything to all the believers. This is why Paul tells us in verse 9 that we have been called into the fellowship of the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. It is also the reason he points out in verse 2 that Christ is both theirs and ours. In His economy God’s intention is to make Christ everything, to give Christ to us as our portion, and also to work Christ into us.
In verse 10 Paul begins to deal with the divisions among the Corinthians. First, he beseeches them through the name of our Lord, which is the name above all names (Phil. 2:9) and should be the unique name among all His believers. However, by ranking the names of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas with the name of Christ, the divisive Corinthians made the same kind of mistake Peter did on the mount of transfiguration when he ranked Moses and Elijah with Christ (Matt. 17:1-8). To keep the oneness in the Lord and to avoid divisions, we need to uplift and exalt the unique name of our Lord by dropping all names other than this highest name.
When the Corinthians believed in Christ, they did not receive anything from Paul, Apollos, or any other servant of God. No doubt, Paul and Apollos were a great help to the believers in Corinth. But the One received by them was Christ. In 1:13 Paul asks them, “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” No, Paul was not crucified for them, and they were not baptized into Paul’s name. Christ was the One who was crucified for them, and the believers were baptized into the name of Christ. Here Paul seems to be saying, “Actually, you did not receive anything from Paul, Apollos, or Cephas. You should not even be limited to a narrow Christ. You must pay your full attention to the unique Christ. This Christ is not only yours and ours — He belongs to everyone. He is theirs and ours, for He is the portion of the saints in every place. God has given this Christ to us, and He has called us into His fellowship.”
It is not easy to give an adequate definition of the fellowship of the Son of God. This matter is altogether wonderful. This fellowship involves not only the oneness between us and the Triune God, but also the oneness among all the believers. Furthermore, it implies enjoyment — our enjoyment of the Triune God, the Triune God’s enjoyment of us, and also the enjoyment which the believers have with one another. In this fellowship we enjoy the Triune God, and the Triune God enjoys us. Moreover, we enjoy all the believers, and all the believers enjoy us. What a wonderful, universal, mutual enjoyment! We have been called into something which is termed the fellowship of God’s Son. This fellowship is universal and mutual. The mutuality of this fellowship is not only between the believers and the Triune God, but also among the believers themselves.
Because we have been called into such a fellowship, we should not say that we are of Paul, of Cephas, of Apollos, or of any other person. Neither should we say that we are of a certain doctrine or of a particular practice. God has not called us into the fellowship of persons, doctrines, and practices. We have not been called into the fellowship of Paul or of anyone else; neither have we been called into a fellowship related to a doctrine or practice. We have been called uniquely into the fellowship of God’s Son. This means that we have been called into the reality, the embodiment, of the Triune God. In this fellowship we enjoy the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In this fellowship we also enjoy all the believers, and the believers enjoy us. Furthermore, the Triune God enjoys us and all the other believers in every place.
Would it not be marvelous if all of today’s Christians realized that they had been called into this fellowship? If this were the situation, the world would become like the garden of Eden. There would be no need for the millennium, for the millennium would already be here. However, the actual situation among Christians today is altogether different. Many things have come in to replace Christ as the unique portion of the believers. Even demonic and satanic things have come in. Nevertheless, God has determined that in His economy one Person — His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ — must be everything. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and He must be constituted into us to become you and me. As we pointed out in the Life-study of Colossians, in the church as the new man, Christ must be everything and everyone. Christ must be the reality of the church. He must also be the reality of every doctrine and practice. The reality of our baptism is Christ, and the substance of our communion is also Christ. If this were the experience of Christians today, how excellent would be the situation among us all!
The actual situation among believers is very sad, even tragic. Christians may have many things, but lack the reality of Christ, the living Person. In today’s Christianity there are thousands, even millions, of items and things. But where can you find the reality of Christ, the living Person? The situation among the believers in Corinth was an example of this terrible shortage. For this reason, in 1 Corinthians Paul points out to them that it is wrong to say that they are of Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or even of a narrow Christ. That is altogether contrary to God’s economy. In God’s economy there is room only for Christ.
I appreciate Paul’s word in verse 2: “With all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours.” Here Paul speaks of all those who call upon the name of the Lord and of every place. Then he says that Christ is both theirs and ours. Concerning believers and places, there is no difference. No matter where you may be when you call on the name of the Lord Jesus, Christ is both yours and also the portion of all the saints. In every place, Christ is theirs and ours.
God does not pay attention to anything other than Christ. Why then do we pay attention to so many other things, even other persons, in place of Christ? Certain of the believers in Corinth devoted their attention to Paul. To them Paul would say, “Why do you pay attention to me? I am not worthy of your attention. And why do some of you prefer Cephas or Apollos? They should not be the objects of your attention either. Neither should you concentrate on practices or doctrines. No person, practice, or doctrine is worthy of your attention. Your attention must be focused solely, wholly, and absolutely on Christ, the One into whose fellowship we have been called by God.”
Perhaps you are wondering how we can enjoy this fellowship. We can enjoy it simply by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. However, if we say that we are of Paul, we are actually calling on the name of Paul. To say that we are of a certain person means that we are calling on the name of that person. Every name other than the name of Christ must be set aside, and we must exalt only one name — the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the name of the wonderful One into whose fellowship God has called us. The way to enjoy this fellowship is to call on the Lord’s name. The more we call on the name of the Lord, the more we enjoy the fellowship into which we have been called. To repeat a matter we have emphasized earlier, we have been called by God to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. By calling on His name we enjoy His fellowship and participate in it. How wonderful! I urge all the saints to learn to call on the name of the Lord Jesus.
It is crucial that the saints in the Lord’s recovery learn not to have any preferences. The saints in a particular church should not prefer one elder over another. All such preferences must be condemned. I also wish to make it emphatically clear that you must not prefer Witness Lee or prefer to be in the place where the ministry is located. Some have asked me if I intend to move elsewhere. Those who inquired of me concerning this went on to say that they intended to move there also. This is a personal preference, and it must be condemned. There should be no preference for Witness Lee or for the ministry. Our only preference should be Christ. We all should be able to say that our preference is the all-inclusive and extensive Christ.
Some may say, “You may prefer a certain brother or even prefer the ministry, but I prefer Christ.” Even this preference is wrong, for it is actually a preference for a very narrow Christ, not the all-inclusive Christ revealed in the writings of Paul. This narrow Christ may be your Christ, but it is not Paul’s Christ. Far from being narrow, Paul’s Christ is universally extensive.
We also should not have any preference with respect to churches. We should not prefer our local church above others, or some other local church above the church in our locality. We should be content to simply be in the church in the place where God has put us according to His sovereign arrangement. Yes, 1:2 does speak of the church of God which is in Corinth. But in this verse Paul goes on to mention every place. We should be willing to be in the church of God anywhere. If the wind of the Spirit blows you to a certain locality, you should simply be in the church there, without any preference. If after a period of time the spiritual wind blows you to another city, you should be equally content to be in the church there. Regarding churches, we should not have any preference. We should never say that we prefer the church in our locality or in some other locality. Rather, we should be able to say, “My preference is only in Christ. I am willing for the wind to blow me in any direction, for in every place Christ is the same.”
We should not have the concept that we can enjoy Christ more in a particular locality than we can somewhere else. We should not think, for example, that we can enjoy more of Christ in that place where the ministry may be located. Actually, if the Lord sends you to a certain city, perhaps for the start of the church life there, you may have more enjoyment of Christ in that place than if you are in the city where the ministry is located. However, if you go to this city out of a preference for that place, you are wrong. Do not go anywhere because of your preference. Instead, simply allow the Lord to lead you in any move you make.
If all Christians preferred only the all-inclusive Christ, the entire world would be subdued. Even a region such as Southern California, a place people consider an entertainment center, would be subdued by us. In addition, New England, a region sometimes considered the graveyard of religion, would also be enlivened through the saints’ enjoyment of Christ.
I am burdened that we all understand what the Lord’s recovery really is. God’s intention in His recovery is to recover Christ as everything. It is to recover Christ as the unique center of God’s economy and as everything to us as our portion for our enjoyment.
As we consider the Epistle of 1 Corinthians, we see that here Paul gives us an illustration. This does not mean, however, that we should follow the Corinthians in their way of having the Christian life, the church life, and the Body life. On the contrary, it means that we should not complain about the church in our locality. We should not think that the local church where we are is inferior and that, according to our preference, we should move to a place where we imagine the church life is better. We need to see that wherever we may be, the actual church life is like that described in 1 Corinthians. Since we are all in such a situation, what should we do? First, we must drop every name other than the name of Christ. We should drop the names of any persons or servants of God whom we may prefer, and we should also lay aside all denominational names. Furthermore, we must turn from all doctrines and practices and take Christ, the unique center of God’s economy, as our everything.
In the first nine verses Paul lays as the foundation Christ, the unique center. In this unique center we have a unique and all-inclusive fellowship and enjoyment, the fellowship of Christ. In 1:10 Paul begins to deal with the eleven problems found in 1 Corinthians. In dealing with all these problems, Paul makes it very clear that the unique solution to all problems in the church is Christ and His cross. The only answer is Christ and Him crucified. By pointing to such a unique solution to the problems in the church in Corinth, and to the problems in every local church as well, Paul uplifted Christ and exalted Him. Paul was crystal clear that the only solution to our problems is Christ and the cross. Therefore, with 1:1-9 as a good foundation, we can begin to appreciate Christ and the cross as the unique solution to all problems in the church.
