In 15:3 and 4 Paul says, “For I delivered to you, among the first things, that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Here we have Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection. In resurrection Christ became the firstfruit, something full of life: “But now Christ has been raised from among the dead, the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20). He was the first to be raised, and we shall follow Him. This means that we shall become new and full of life, just as He is.
As we have seen, in resurrection Christ became not only the firstfruit but also the life-giving Spirit. God has put us into Him, and we have been joined to Him. Now God is transmitting, dispensing, Him into us day by day. When we have this dispensing, we have victory and triumph. We are victorious, triumphant, over two basic enemies—sin and death.
If you consider all these verses from 1 Corinthians, you will see that this is the extract of this Epistle. In 1 Corinthians we see those who have been called by God into the enjoyment of His Son, who have been placed by God into Christ, who have Christ as wisdom and power, who have the indwelling Spirit unveiling and communicating the riches of Christ to them, who are experiencing God’s dispensing for growth unto transformation, who are joined to Christ as one spirit, and who are triumphant over sin and death. As such persons, we need to function as members of the Body. We should not say that we do not have any spiritual gifts. On the contrary, we have a great deal with which to function.
We need to see from this book what kind of persons we are. We have been called into the enjoyment and participation of Christ. We have been put into Christ by God, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom and power. We have the Spirit in us to reveal the riches of Christ and communicate these riches to us. God is dispensing Himself into us as life so that we may grow in life and be transformed into precious materials for God’s building. We are even one spirit with the Lord. Furthermore, in the resurrected Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit, we are triumphant over sin and death. Since God has made us such persons in Christ, we can function as members of the Body, and we must function.
In order to function in the church meetings, we need to speak. By speaking we “turn on the switch” so that we may have the flowing of the divine electricity. In previous messages we have emphasized the fact that when we speak, the Spirit functions, the Lord ministers, and God operates. Then God’s purpose is fulfilled.
As Christians in the Lord’s recovery, we need to learn to speak all the time. We need to speak at home, on our way to work, and wherever we may be. By speaking in Christ we defeat the enemy and shut the door to evil things.
Suppose a brother, his wife, and children sit at the breakfast table in silence. No one says anything about the Lord or for the Lord. Then someone speaks carelessly about a certain matter. Others disagree with what is said, and eventually the brother and his wife become angry and have an argument.
How different the situation would be if someone would take the lead to speak concerning the Lord. Suppose the sister says, “This morning I enjoyed 1 Corinthians 1:9, a verse that tells us that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. How marvelous that we have been called into this fellowship.” The husband may then reply, “Praise the Lord! Your word is a great help to me.” This kind of speaking closes the door to the enemy and opens the door for the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
We all should redeem the time by taking every opportunity to speak about Christ. However, we are not accustomed to speaking about the Lord continually. Often the saints sit silently in the meeting hall waiting for the meeting to begin. Instead of speaking for the Lord or about the Lord, they may talk about other matters.
We need to speak the Lord, speak the Bible, speak God’s salvation, and speak all manner of things concerning the Christian life. We Christians should be a speaking people, those who speak wherever they are.
I would suggest that we try to practice speaking even as we are driving to work. The traffic may be heavy, and it may cause you to become frustrated. Do you know why you feel that way? You are frustrated because you do not speak. If you speak concerning the Lord, your situation will be very different. Perhaps you may need to say, “Car, I am not in you—I am in Christ!” Then you should turn to the Lord, pray to Him, and praise Him. This kind of speaking brings in the Lord’s victory.
As we speak for the Lord in the meetings, we should not only utter some praise to the Lord and declare how much we love Him; we also need to learn to speak with more aspects of the truth and with more of the Lord’s riches,
In 12:13 Paul says, “For also 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.” This verse reveals that Christ has baptized us in the Spirit into the Body, and now we all are drinking the one Spirit. On the one hand, Christ has put us into the Spirit. On the other hand, we are drinking this Spirit. Therefore, we are in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us. The result is that we are soaked and saturated with this Spirit. This makes us fully qualified and able to function in the meetings by speaking for the Lord and even by speaking Him forth. Praise Him for the riches of the essence of the book!