is letter is taken up
with dealing with the especial conditions of the Corinthian church.
Rather I should suppose that he is simply intending to remind 'the
Church of God at Corinth ... sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be
saints,' that they are in real, living union with the whole body of
believers. Just as the water in a little land-locked bay, connected
with the sea by some narrow strait like that at Corinth, is yet part
of the whole ocean that rolls round the world, so that little
community of Christians had its living bond of union with all the
brethren in every place that called upon the name of Jesus Christ.

Whichever view on that detail of interpretation be taken, this
phrase, as a designation of Christians, is worth considering. It is
one of many expressions found in the New Testament as names for them,
some of which have now dropped out of general use, while some are
still retained. It is singular that the name of 'Christian,' which
has all but superseded all others, was originally invented as a jeer
by sarcastic wits at Antioch, and never appears in the New Testament,
as a name by which believers called themselves. Important lessons are
taught by these names, such as disciples, believers, brethren,
saints, those of the way, and so on, each of which embodies some
characteristic of a follower of Jesus. So this appellation in the
text, 'those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,' may
yield not unimportant lessons if it be carefully weighed, and to some
of these I would ask your attention now.

I. First, it gives us a glimpse into the worship of the primitive
Church.

To 'call on the name of the Lord' is an expression that comes
straight out of the Old Testament. It means there distinctly
adoration and invocation, and it means precisely these things when it
is referred to Jesus Christ.

We find in the Acts of the Apostles that the very first sermon that
was preached at Pentecost by Peter all turns upon this phrase. He
quotes the Old Testament saying, 'Whosoever shall call on the name of
the Lord shall be saved,' and then goes on to prove that 'the Lord,'
the 'calling on whose Name' is salvation, is Jesus Christ; and winds
up with 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and
Christ.'

Again we find that Ananias of Damascus, when Jesus Christ appeared to
him and told him to go to Paul and lay his hands upon hi