EXCERPTS FROM THE MINISTRY

D. Called to the Participation in Christ

We have seen from 1:9 that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, into the participation of Christ. This means that we have been called into the enjoyment of Christ. As we have pointed out, the way to enjoy this fellowship is to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. Again I say, we have been called by God to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has called us to call upon this unique name, the name which is above every other name. We should turn from considering the names of persons and places and concentrate on the unique name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. THE CROSS

The cross of Christ is also part of the unique solution to the problems in the church. The first work the cross does in our experience is to terminate us. According to my observation, brothers are usually more willing than sisters to be terminated. Throughout all my years in the Lord’s recovery, I have seen few sisters who were willing to be terminated by the cross. Do you realize that every wedding is a termination? When a sister gets married, she puts a covering on her head. This covering is a sign of termination and burial. If a sister is not willing for such a termination, she should not cover her head at the time of her wedding. Furthermore, a married sister loses her maiden name and takes another last name, the name of her husband.

The cross works in us to terminate us. On the one hand, Christ is our enjoyment; on the other hand, the cross is our termination. From experience we know that the more we enjoy Christ, the more we are terminated. When the cross works to terminate us, what should we do? We should not do anything except remain restfully in the place of termination.

It is a wonderful fact that whatever is terminated by the cross is redeemed. How encouraging this is! The enjoyment of redemption depends on the experience of termination. Certain saints have little enjoyment of redemption because they are not willing to be terminated.

The cross solves all the entanglements we face in the church life and especially in our married life. According to my experience, married life can be very entangling, bothersome, and puzzling. What can untangle all the complications and solve the problems? We need an instrument to cut through the entanglement, and this instrument, this cutting knife, is the cross. Only the cross can save us from the entanglements of married life. When we are cut by the cross, we are not entangled by anything.

Human life is filled with problems and entanglements. Simply to be alive is to encounter problems and troubles. This is true not only in the married life and family life, but also in the church life. According to the human way, negotiation is the means of solving problems or resolving entanglements. A brother and his wife may attempt to solve problems in this way. However, this is not the divine way. God’s way is to supply you with Christ and terminate you by the cross. Whenever there is a problem in the family life or in the church life, the natural man may immediately try to negotiate and solve the problem through conversation. By the Lord’s mercy I can testify that whenever I face this temptation, deep within I have the sense that there is no need for me to talk or negotiate. My only need is to go to the cross and be terminated. Then Christ comes in with the supply to solve every problem. This is God’s way to solve all the problems in the church life.

We should pay our full attention to Christ. He is our unique preference and choice. Furthermore, we need to have a proper understanding concerning the cross, realizing that the purpose of the cross is to terminate whatever we are. We need to take this cross and enjoy Christ. This is the unique solution to all problems in the church. To the Jews the cross is an offense, and to the nations it is foolishness. But to us, God’s called ones, it is truly God’s power and God’s wisdom (1:24). According to our natural, cultural mentality, it is foolishness to be crossed out. But as called ones we know that the cross is God’s wisdom and His power.