Ⅳ
For the reality of the Body of Christ, God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24); the word blended means “adjusted,” “harmonized,” “tempered,” and “mingled,” implying the losing of distinctions; the purpose of the blending is to usher us all into the reality of the Body of Christ:
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We need to be in the local churches as the procedure to be brought into the reality of the Body of Christ as the goal.
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The highest peak of the Lord’s recovery that can really, practically, and actually carry out God’s economy is for God to produce not many local churches in a physical way but an organic Body to be His organism.
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Paul’s thought of the church being one bread (10:17) was not his own invention; rather, it was taken from the Old Testament with the meal offering (Lev. 2:4); every part of the flour of the meal offering was mingled with the oil — that is the blending.
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Hardly anyone speaks about blending because this is not only very high and deep but also very mysterious; it is not a physical matter; the significance of our blending is the reality of the Body of Christ.
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In order to be blended for the reality of the Body of Christ, we have to go through the cross and be by the Spirit to dispense Christ to others for the building up of the Body of Christ.
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Blending means that we should always stop in order to fellowship with others; if we have the consciousness of the Body of Christ and are in the blending and reality of the Body of Christ, we will not do anything without fellowshipping with the other saints who are coordinating with us, because fellowship tempers us, fellowship adjusts us, fellowship harmonizes us, and fellowship mingles us.
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Before a co-worker does anything, he should fellowship with the other co-workers; an elder should fellowship with the other elders; in our coordination in the church life, in the Lord’s work, we all have to learn not to do anything without fellowship.
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A group of responsible brothers may meet together often without being blended; to be blended means that we are touched by others and that we are touching others by going through the cross, doing things by the Spirit, and doing everything to dispense Christ for His Body’s sake.
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Such a blending is not social but the blending of the very Christ whom the individual members, the district churches, the co-workers, and the elders enjoy, experience, and partake of.
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Blending is the Body, blending is the oneness, and blending is the one accord.
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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).
Morning Nourishment
1 Cor. 12:24 …Our comely members have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked.10:17 Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.
The word blended also means “adjusted,” “harmonized,” “tempered,” and “mingled”….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….God has blended all the believers of all different races and colors.
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….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. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm,” pp. 159-160)
Today’s Reading
The purpose of the blending is to usher us all into the reality of the Body of Christ…. I treasure the local churches because of a purpose. The local churches are the procedure to bring me into the Body of Christ….Thus, we need to be in the local churches so that we can be ushered, or brought, into the reality of the Body of Christ.The highest peak of the Lord’s recovery that can really, practically, and actually carry out God’s economy is for God to produce not many local churches in a physical way but an organic Body to be His organism. We all have a physical body, but our body actually is not the reality of our being….The churches set up around the globe are a physical frame, but among the churches there may be no reality of the Body of Christ.
In the Old Testament there is a type of the blending for the fulfillment of God’s economy…. In 1 Corinthians 10:17 Paul says, “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 oil. Every part of the flour was mixed, or mingled, with the oil. That is blending. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” pp. 104, 111-112)
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 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.
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…. [Blending] is the most helpful thing in the keeping of the oneness of the universal Body of Christ. Such a blending is not social but the blending of the very Christ whom the individual members, the district churches, the co-workers, and the elders enjoy, experience, and partake of. 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). (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm,” pp. 160-162)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” chs. 1-3; Fellowship concerning the Work of the Lord’s Recovery, pp. 43-76