Week 16 The Experience of Life
LESSON SIXTEEN
THE BLENDING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
Hymn 1106
Scripture Reading:
1 Cor. 10:17 Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.
1 Cor. 12:24 But our comely members have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked,
THE NEED OF THE BLENDING
The thought of blending is very strong in the Bible. In the Old Testament, there is a type of the blending for the fulfillment of God’s economy. However, if we read the Old Testament only in letters, we will not be able to see it. This type for the blending was strongly referred to by the apostle Paul. In 1Corinthians 10:17 Paul said, “Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.” Paul’s thought of the church being one bread was not his own invention; rather, it was taken from the Old Testament. The meal offering in Leviticus 2:4 consisted of cakes made of fine flour mingled, with the oil. That is blending. Paul tells us that the church is a bread, a cake, made of fine flour. This fine flour comes from wheat grains, and the wheat grains come from the one grain of wheat, which is Christ. John 12:24 says that Christ is the one grain of wheat who fell into the earth and died and grew up in resurrection to produce many grains, which are we, His believes. We are the many grains so that we may be ground into fine flour for making the cake, the bread, of the church. Here we can see the thought of blending in the Bible. (Practical Points Concerning Blending, pp. 18-19)
Hence, the neighboring local churches should be clustered as much as possible in the blending way for the spiritual benefits in the mutual building up of the Body of Christ, as the Lord Jesus clustered the seven neighboring churches in Asia. (1993 Blending Conference Messages Concerning the Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, ch. 2)
THE BLENDING OF THE UNIVERSAL BODY OF CHRIST
“Blended” also Means Adjusted, Harmonized, Tempered
God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24). The word blended also means adjusted, harmonized, tempered, and mingled. God has blended the Body, adjusted the Body, harmonized the Body, tempered the Body, and mingled the Body. The Greek word for blended implies the losing of distinctions. One brother’s distinction may be quickness, and another’s may be slowness. But in the Body life the slowness disappears and the quickness is taken away. All such distinctions are gone. God has blended all the believers of all different races and colors. Who can make the blacks and the whites lose their distinctions? Only God can do this. A husband and a wife can have the harmony in their marriage life only by losing their distinctions.
In order to be harmonized, blended, adjusted, mingled, and tempered in the Body life, we have to go through the cross and be by the Spirit, dispensing Christ to others for the sake of the Body of Christ. The co-workers and elders must learn to be crossed out. Whatever we do should be by the Spirit to dispense Christ. Also, what we do should not be for our interest and according to our taste but for the church. As long as we practice these points, we will have the blending.
We All Have to Learn not to Do Anything without Fellowship
When a co-worker does anything, he should fellowship with the other co-workers. An elder should fellowship with the other elders. Fellowship tempers us; fellowship adjusts us; fellowship harmonizes us; and fellowship mingles us. We should forget about whether we are slow or quick and just fellowship with others. We should not do anything without fellowshipping with the other saints who are coordinating with us. Fellowship requires us to stop when we are about to do something. In our coordination in the church life, in the Lord’s work, we all have to learn not to do anything without fellowship.
Among us we should have the blending of all the individual members of the Body of Christ, the blending of all the churches in certain districts, the blending of all the co-workers, and the blending of all the elders. Blending means that we should always stop to fellowship with others. Then we will receive many benefits. If we isolate and seclude ourselves, we will lose much spiritual profit. Learn to fellowship. Learn to be blended. From now on, the churches should come together frequently to be blended. We may not be used to it but after we begin to practice blending a few times, we will acquire the taste for it. This is the most helpful thing in the keeping of the oneness of the universal Body of Christ. Today it is very convenient for us to blend with one another because of this modern age with its modern conveniences.
Blending Requiring Us to Be by the Spirit to Dispense Christ
and to Do Everything for the Sake of His Body
When we blend together, we have the cross and the Spirit. Without the cross and the Spirit, all that we have is the flesh with division. It is not easy to be crucified and to do all things by the Spirit in ourselves. This is why we must learn to be blended. Blending requires us to be crossed out. Blending requires us to be by the Spirit to dispense Christ and to do everything for the sake of His Body.
We may come together without much blending because everyone stays in themselves. They are afraid to offend others and make mistakes, so they keep quiet. This is the manner of man according to the flesh. When we come together, we should experience the terminating of the cross. Then we should learn how to follow the Spirit, how to dispense Christ, and how to say and do something for the benefit of the Body. That will change the entire atmosphere of the meeting and will temper the atmosphere. Blending is not a matter of being quiet or talkative but a matter of being tempered. We can be in harmony, because we have been tempered. Eventually, the distinctions will all be gone. Blending means to lose the distinctions. We all have to pay some price to practice the blending.
For the Building Up of the Universal Body of Christ
The blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) as the final goal of God’s economy according to His good pleasure (Eph. 3:8-10; 1:9-10). (The Divine and Mystical Realm, pp.86-89)
Reference: 1993 Blending Conference Messages Concerning the Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, msg. 2; The Practical Points Concerning Blending, ch. 2; The Divine and Mystical Realm, ch. 6.
