In the Divine Trinity’s operation, the Spirit moves the believers to say “Lord Jesus” and distributes gifts to the believers (1 Cor. 12:3-4). In many Christian meetings on this earth, the attendants come in an orderly and quiet way to be seated. They sit there waiting for a pastor to stand up to say something to them. This is the killing way to meet. These believers may have been very living, active, and talkative outside the chapel. But when they came into that chapel, their function and their livingness was killed. Even in the local churches we somewhat practice this way. We may have been quite active outside the meeting hall, but when we came into the meeting hall, we sat down and waited for one of the elders to say something. We need to come into the meeting hall calling, “O Lord Jesus!” What a meeting that would be if all of us would function to begin the meeting by calling upon the name of the Lord. In many Christian meetings certain people sing solos. Everyone in the audience keeps quiet to listen to that solo, and their function is killed. Then there may be a quartet, and after their singing the issue is death. We need to reject this dead way of meeting.
When we call “O Lord Jesus,” this will stir all of us up, revive us, and make us alive. The more you say “O Lord Jesus,” the more you will be alive, and the more you will enliven others. When we call “O Lord Jesus,” we not only sense the very presence of the living Christ, but we also have the sensation that Someone is moving and living within us. Some might say that if we all called on the Lord in the meeting that this would make too much noise. But God likes to have noise; He does not like our quietness in the meetings. The Psalms tell us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord (66:1; 81:1; 95:1-2; 98:4, 6; 100:1). The Psalms do not say that we need to have a joyful voice. A voice is something that is in order, but a noise is made when everyone is speaking.
You may feel that others can speak and function but that you have no gift to speak and function. Actually, however, you are not poor. Your poverty comes through your dumbness. Romans 10:12 tells us that the Lord is rich to all who call upon Him. After ten times of calling “O Lord Jesus,” you will have something to say. Calling on the name of the Lord stirs you up from within. When you call upon the Lord, you have the gift, and you want to flow out to others.
The first three verses of 1 Corinthians 12 give us a new start for our meetings. When we come to the meeting and we are all dumb, we will lose our function. We will not know what to say. But after a few times of calling “O Lord Jesus,” we will have a burden to say something. Try calling on the name of the Lord Jesus in a meeting ten times, and see what will come out. After ten times of calling on the Lord’s name, we would not be able to sit down, and we would have to flow out from within. At the same time that we call on the Lord’s name, the Spirit distributes the gift into us. If we want to function in the meeting, the way to get the gift is by calling on the name of the Lord. Everyone among us should try this.
In 1933 I began to work together with Brother Nee. He always stressed that in the meetings one or two brothers should not be the only ones who speak. He stressed that everybody should learn to speak. At that time I wondered how we could help the saints function in the meetings. After many years of study, I began to see the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 12: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were of the nations, you were led away to dumb idols, however you were led. Wherefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit.” From these verses, how do we know that we are speaking in the Spirit of God? It is by calling on the Lord’s name. When we call, that is a sign that the Spirit of God is moving in us. No one can say, “Lord Jesus,” except in the Holy Spirit. To say “Lord Jesus” is the start of the Spirit’s distribution of the gifts in verse 4, which says, “But there are distributions of gifts, but the same Spirit.” The beginning of the distribution of the gifts by the Spirit is our calling “Lord Jesus.” The best way to help the saints to function or to speak in the meetings is to charge them, to motivate them, to call on the name of the Lord Jesus.
In the early seventies when we were meeting in Elden Hall in Los Angeles, our meetings were always in the heavenlies because there was so much calling on the name of the Lord. The saints were calling on the name of the Lord in their homes and on their way to the meeting hall. Thus, whenever you entered into the meeting place, you had the sensation that you were alive and that everything was living there. All of this calling on the name of the Lord ushered in the speaking from all the saints. We did not have enough time in our meetings for everybody to speak. Gradually, however, our calling on the name of the Lord has diminished, has slowed down. Thus, our meetings also began to be very slow.
Now the rescue is to call on the name of the Lord. This calling stirs up the distribution of the gifts. Then the gifts perform all kinds of ministries by the Lord, and all these ministries will carry out the operation of the Father. This operation through the ministries by the gifts will dispense the Divine Trinity into our being. In our meetings there should be no formalities nor rituals. We need to come in calling on the name of the Lord and begin to speak. To keep the formalities and rituals is to remain in death.
The gathering of God’s people in the old dispensation was with Christ prefigured in all the types, but not completed through all the processes. Today we have the real Christ completed through all the processes. The gathering of God’s people in the old dispensation was also with regulations of letters only and no direction and move by the Spirit. Today in the Christian meetings there must not be the regulations of letters but the direction and move by the Spirit. Finally, in the old dispensation, the gathering of God’s people had patterns only of things to come and no accomplishments for God’s eternal plan. Today it should be that in every meeting God operates to accomplish something according to His plan.