In a recent meeting at Melodyland in Anaheim, California, a speaker in his attack upon Witness Lee and the local churches referred in a rather mocking way to what he calls the doctrine of releasing the spirit. He mentions that if you were to attend a meeting of the local church, you would find that it would be punctuated with loud exclamations of “O Lord Jesus, Hallelujah, and Praise the Lord!” He goes on to say that a newcomer might think that this was strange, but it is the common practice in the meetings of the local church in what is known as “the doctrine of releasing the spirit.”
Since this speaker has probably never been to a meeting of the local church, I would like to say that his mocking way of describing our meetings is absolutely not true. What is wrong with Christians coming together to praise the Lord and call upon His name? The Bible tells us clearly that we are one spirit with the Lord. “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). We also know from Romans 8:16 that the Holy Spirit is with our spirit. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Paul even says that the Lord Jesus Himself is with our spirit. “The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit” (2 Tim. 4:22). Therefore, we have found in our experience that we need to have our spirit released so that the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit might also be released in our meetings. To us this is not something to be mocked, neither is it a doctrine that we hold. It is simply a practice we enjoy.
There are numerous references in the Psalms where the writer cries out, “O Lord!” One of these references is Psalm 130:1: “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” We have found that to call on the name of the Lord is not only scriptural, but also quite effective in contacting the Lord. This is why, as this speaker mockingly mentions, we call, “Lord Jesus,” in our meetings as well as in our daily enjoyment of the Lord. Paul tells us clearly in Romans 10:12 that the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. The word “call” here as well as in other verses concerning calling on the name of the Lord is the Greek word, epikaleo. This word means to call out, to invoke a person by name. W. E. Vine in his Expository Dictionary of the New Testament says that this word means to call upon by way of adoration, making use of the name of the Lord. J. H. Thayer in his Greek Lexicon of the New Testament says that it means to cry out upon, and to call upon by pronouncing the name.
It is quite evident that the early Christians called upon the name of the Lord. The apostle Paul addresses his first Epistle to the Corinthians to “all that in every place call (epikaleo) upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2). When Ananias was told by the Lord to go and lay his hands upon Saul of Tarsus that he might receive his sight, he replied, “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call (epikaleo) on thy name” (Acts 9:13-14). It seems from the message that was given at Melodyland that the speaker would like to do the same-to bind all that call on the Lord’s name.
We would like to appeal to all Christians everywhere with a fair conscience. Do we not need to have our spirit released so that the Lord Jesus might be released? We would even ask all Christians with a sincere heart to try calling on the name of the Lord from the depths of their being and see if they are not nourished and strengthened. Just call, “O Lord, O Lord Jesus!” I can testify from my experience as a Christian for over thirty years, and as a seminary graduate, that I have never touched and enjoyed the Lord so much as since I began to call upon Him in this way. Truly He is rich to all that call upon Him.
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