Glorious, mighty Name of Jesus

Miss M. E. Barber, who helped Brother Watchman Nee very much when he was young, wrote a hymn that says, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed" (Hymns, #73, stanza 2). The way to breathe the name of Jesus is to call on His name: "O Lord Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" To breathe the name of Jesus in this way is to drink of life indeed. Lamentations 3:55 and 56 tell us that to call on the Lord is to breathe. These verses say, "I called upon Your name, O Jehovah, / From the lowest pit. / You have heard my voice; do not hide / Your ear at my breathing, at my cry." Our genuine calling on the name of the Lord is our spiritual breathing. According to John 20:22, the divine breath is the Spirit. The Lord Jesus met with His disciples in the evening on the day of His resurrection, and "He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit." Thus, to breathe spiritually is to breathe the Spirit. Since the air that we breathe contains water vapor, we may say that to breathe is also to drink. Therefore, our breathing the Spirit is also our drinking the Spirit. Moreover, the fact that the Spirit whom we breathe and drink is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) indicates that He is the divine life. Hence, to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink the Spirit, who is life. We may know that 1 Corinthians 12:13 speaks of drinking the one Spirit, but we may not know the way to drink. From the context of the entire Bible, we can see that the way to drink the Spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus (Psa. 116:12-13; Isa. 12:2-4).

The second stanza of Hymns, #73 says, "Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior! / In Thy Name is all I need; / Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed." The way to receive all the divine riches is to breathe the name of Jesus, and the way to breathe the name of Jesus, which is also to drink Him as life, is to call, "O Lord Jesus." Whenever we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we are genuinely breathing Him and drinking Him. This hymn was written by M. E. Barber, a sister who was a source of great help to Brother Nee during his youth. According to her realization and experience, to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink of life indeed. The way to be filled in our spirit with the fullness of God is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus.

According to this hymn, to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink of life indeed. The way to breathe the name of Jesus is to call on the name of Jesus. Miss Barber, a sister who helped Brother Nee very much, composed this poetic hymn from her experience. She realized that to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink of life. The genuine breathing, which is to breathe the name of Jesus, is to call, "O Lord Jesus."

We should be "those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place" (1:2). Whoever calls on the Lord's name in this way is drinking the Spirit. When I first saw this light, I considered whether I was too bold, because I had never heard anyone say that calling on the Lord's name is equivalent to drinking the Spirit. Later, I saw a hymn written by Miss M. E. Barber that says, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed" (Hymns, #73). These words confirm that if we want to drink the Spirit, we need to call on the Lord's name.

Day by day we need to breathe the Lord Jesus, and in our breathing, we also drink of Him. I refer again to the two lines in M. E. Barber's hymn: "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed" (Hymns, #73). Miss Barber realized that to breathe the Lord is to drink Him. In the breath there is water, and in the water there is food.

The Lord has shown us that the best way to breathe Him is to call on His name (Lam. 3:55-56). We are the called people who have been called to be the calling ones. The Lord has called us so that we may call on Him (1 Cor. 1:2). On the one hand, we are the called people; on the other hand, we are the calling people. We are those who call on the Lord Jesus at every time and in every place. Many doctors and experts in health have discovered that an excellent exercise to help our human body is deep breathing. By breathing deeply, we breathe out all the unclean things and breathe in all the fresh elements. This principle applies also to our spiritual life. One of the most healthy things for our spiritual life is to breathe the Lord Jesus deeply by calling, "O Lord Jesus." Many of us may have been Christians for years without ever practicing the proper calling on the Lord. The word call in Greek means "to call upon, to invoke by name." We need to call on the name of the Lord, and this calling is the deep breathing of the Lord Jesus. It is regrettable that many Christians do not know how to breathe the Lord Jesus. A. B. Simpson wrote a wonderful hymn on the matter of breathing. The chorus reads, "I am breathing out my sorrow, / Breathing out my sin; / I am breathing, breathing, breathing, / All Thy fulness in" (Hymns, #255).

Calling on the name of the Lord is a marvelous way for us to enjoy the riches of Christ (Rom. 10:12). The second stanza of Hymns, #73, written by M. E. Barber, says,

Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior!
In Thy Name is all I need;
Just to breathe the Name of Jesus,
Is to drink of Life indeed.

According to this hymn, calling on the Lord's name is not a matter of entreating Him to do something for us outwardly in a miraculous way. Rather, it is a matter of the inner enjoyment of all that He is to us. All the Lord riches are in His name. Thus, when we call on His name, we taste and enjoy all that He is to us. This is much better than His doing something for us outwardly. What we care for is the inner enjoyment of and the inner participation in all that the Lord is. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, He may or may not do something to save us from our problems outwardly. However, we can be sure that whenever we call on His name, we will enjoy His riches.

....The way to be saved is to call upon Him. When they pick up a piece of clothing in a department store, if the sisters will say, "Lord Jesus," I believe that many times the Lord will tell them to put the piece of clothing down. We do not need teaching, but we need to be saved by the living pneuma. The way to enjoy the living pneuma is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. The reality of the name of Jesus is the Spirit. The words of a hymn written by M. E. Barber say, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed" (Hymns, #73). It is so simple that we may not believe it. We need to turn from the old traditional way of learning biblical doctrines to the new way of calling on the name of the Lord Jesus.

The last two lines in the second stanza of Hymns, #73, written by M. E. Barber, say, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed." M. E. Barber was a missionary sent to China from England who helped Watchman Nee very much to know the Lord in the way of life. In her hymn she said that to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink of life indeed. The way to breathe the name of Jesus is simply to call on His name, saying, "O Lord Jesus." This is the way to breathe the Lord, who is the Spirit, as life.

In Greek the verb translated "call on" is epikaleo. This verb is composed of on and call (by name); thus, it means to call out audibly. The way to call on the name of the Lord is to cry out, even to shout, "Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus!" Some may think that the Lord Jesus is not deaf, and thus there is no need for us to shout in this way. However, we know from our experience that when we pray to the Lord silently, it is difficult for us to touch the Spirit. When we pray in this way, we may not sense any refreshing, watering, feeding, or satisfying within. But when we cry out, "Lord Jesus! Amen, Lord! Hallelujah! O Lord Jesus!" after only a short time we are inwardly refreshed. If we continue to call on the Lord in this way, we sense that we are being watered. After calling on the Lord for a longer time, we feel inwardly satisfied. This is the issue of our breathing the name of Jesus by calling on Him.

Hymns, #73 speaks of breathing the name of Jesus and of drinking of life. Watchman Nee received great help from the author of this hymn, Miss M. E. Barber. The second stanza of the hymn says, "Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior! / In Thy Name is all I need; / Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed." Miss Barber was quite experienced in the Lord, and she discovered that to breathe the name of the Lord is to drink of the Lord's life. Just to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink of life indeed. When we call, "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!" we are breathing, and our breathing is our drinking. Hence, we can drink the Lord by calling on His name.

The initiation of life begins with the Spirit, but the word is needed for the growth, spread, and expansion of life. Although the initiation of life is through the Spirit, the growth of life is through the word. We know that the Lord is the Spirit in our spirit, and we can enjoy Him by calling on His name. As we call, we are breathing; that is, we are receiving Him as air. As we breathe more, our breathing becomes our drinking. Sister M. E. Barber wrote a hymn that says, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed" (Hymns, #73). As our breathing increases, it becomes our drinking. However, in addition to breathing and drinking, we must eat. Our physical body needs both air and water. However, in order to receive a rich supply of nutrients for our growth, we need food. Hence, we should not only breathe and drink but also eat in order to receive the necessary nutrients. We must have the Lord's Word in order to eat. Thus, eating is related to pray-reading the Scriptures.

First Corinthians opens with calling on the name of the Lord, revealing that it is a book of the enjoyment of the Lord. It tells us that Christ is our wisdom and power (1 Cor. 1:24) and that He has been made our righteousness, sanctification, redemption (1:30), and so many other items for our enjoyment. Eventually, in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit of whom we may drink (1 Cor. 15:45; 12:13). The way to drink of Him as the life-giving Spirit is to call on His name. Thus, 1 Corinthians 12:3 indicates that if we say, "Lord Jesus," we are immediately in the Spirit. To say, "Lord Jesus" is to call on the name of the Lord. Jesus is the name of the Lord, and the Spirit is His person. When we call on the name of the Lord, we get the person of the Lord. When we call, "Lord Jesus," we get the Spirit. This kind of calling on the name of the Lord to receive the Spirit is not only spiritual breathing, but also spiritual drinking. When we call on the name of the Lord, we breathe Him in as the breath of life and we drink of Him as the water of life. The second stanza of hymn number seventy-three in our hymnal says,

Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior
In Thy Name is all I need;
Just to breathe the Name of Jesus,
Is to drink of Life indeed.

This is the way for us to partake of and enjoy the Lord. We all need to do it. May the Lord bless us in this matter. May it be fully recovered in these days.

Christ is not only our life to regenerate us. He is also the holy breath for our breathing. John 20:22 says that when the Lord Jesus came into the midst of the disciples, He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." This means that every believer can breathe in the Lord through calling on His name. This breathing is the breathing in of the pneumatic Christ as air (John 20:22). Stanza 2 of Hymns, #73 says, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, is to drink of Life indeed."

Sister M. E. Barber wrote a hymn, Hymns, #73. The second stanza in this hymn says: "Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior! / In Thy Name is all I need; / Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed." This is evidence that this sister truly had the experience of drinking. We need only to breathe the name of Jesus, that is, to call on the Lord Jesus, "Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus!" Then we will drink of His life. This calling does not need to be very loud. In order not to disturb others, we may at times call softly, "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!" In any event we must drink. When we call softly, "O Lord Jesus!" we are firstly quenched within, then we also are enlightened. After a few more minutes of calling, the inner light will become brighter, and we will end up dealing with our sins. This is truly marvelous! We must drink in this way.

As we have seen already from Lamentations, our calling, "O Lord Jesus," is our breathing. Hymn #73 in Hymns was written by Miss M. E. Barber, an older sister who helped Brother Watchman Nee very much. Stanza 2 says, "Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior! / In Thy Name is all I need; / Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed." Three or four years ago when I told the Lord's people that to breathe is to drink, I was a little doubtful. I had never heard anyone say this, and I thought that I might be too much. However, one night in Los Angeles this hymn was called. While we were singing, I was surprised at the lines which say, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed." At least one other person, Miss Barber, a sister who was deep in the Lord, experienced the same thing. To call on the name of the Lord is to breathe Him, and to breathe Him is to drink of Him. The way to drink of the one Spirit is to call, "O Lord Jesus!" To call is to breathe, and to breathe is to drink, so to call is simply to drink. If you are thirsty, call on the Lord. At any time or any place, even while we are driving, we may be thirsty. Then we may call on the Lord and receive the living water. Try it; it always works. When we call on the name of the Lord, we drink of the Lord and we receive all the riches of the Lord.